A life-changing promise

A gift from Maryna's family to the Stedmans, a depiction of their life together in North Dakota. From the northern lights to the little church near their home, this illustration is a priceless gift.

From loss to community revitalization, a North Dakota town embodies welcoming

In the rural community of Carrington, North Dakota, Lanell Stedman and her husband Randy have become pillars of support for dozens of Ukrainians seeking refuge and opportunity in the U.S.

The couple runs an agricultural business, and for the last decade they have employed foreign laborers, many of whom were Ukrainians who arrived under H-2A visas.

“We’ve employed Ukrainian men for over 10 years. They’re wonderful people, dedicated workers who integrate into our communities beautifully. Their values and work ethic are so similar to ours,” Lanell said.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in early 2022, the crisis was personal for Lanell.

One of their long-time employees had recently returned home to Ukraine to visit his wife and children. He was then diagnosed with cancer and required chemotherapy, making him unable to come back to North Dakota for the spring farming season.

When the war broke out, Lanell assured him that he would always have a job with her. When he asked if his wife and children could come to the U.S. to seek safety from the war, Lanell insisted that he came with them. Since his medical issues provided an exception from enlistment, he was able to return to North Dakota, too.

Shortly after returning to the U.S. with his family, the father learned that his cancer was terminal.

Tragically, just two months to the day the family arrived, Lanell’s friend and loyal employee passed away. Their community in North Dakota held a funeral for him. In August, his wife, who wanted to take him back to Ukraine to rest, had him cremated, then left for Ukraine with their children.

Upon her return to Ukraine, the wife reached out to Lanell, in disbelief at how harsh the conditions were back in her home country. Lanell kept her promise to her friend and sponsored the family through the newly launched Uniting for Ukraine (U4U) program.

Determined to help more families, Lanell and her husband began sponsoring additional Ukrainian families, coordinating with local employers to create job opportunities for these newcomers as they arrived.

These job vacancies that newcomers were filling are vital for the revitalization of this small town. Carrington, a town reliant on the agricultural industry and the jobs it produces, has experienced population decline over the past several years. Lanell’s business has been positively impacted by the newcomers she’s employed.

Recognizing this economic gap, she quickly became the connector between skilled Ukrainian workers and North Dakota employers in not only agriculture, but in childcare, hospitality, and other sectors vital to the Carrington economy. She helped by organizing every step of the process, from sponsorship paperwork to arrival logistics.

For Maryna Kuchenko and her family, this support from the Stedmans was life changing.

After the invasion of Ukraine turned her world upside down, Maryna fled with her family, first to Vinnytsia, a city in western Ukraine, and then to Poland. After spending a month in Poland, she believed it was safe to return and did so, working to find a sense of normalcy.

Her 8-year-old son began to deeply struggle with fear. His school didn’t have a shelter, and with rockets constantly in the sky, Maryna knew they had to leave. “I didn’t want my children to live that way.”

She began to look into sponsorship and connected with Lanell. “It was a miracle… I couldn’t believe that strangers could help you, even though they don’t know you,” Maryna said.

For Ukrainian couple Yurii and Oksana, their normal, happy life was upturned by the invasion. They went from working and spending time with friends to living in limbo, adapting to blackouts and sirens.

They tried to survive by helping on Yurii’s family’s farm, growing produce, and transporting it to Kyiv to sell. “We brought vegetables to Kyiv to sell. The last time, it was -15 [degrees celsius]. We barely made any money. Everything was frozen,” he recounted.

They soon discovered that Oksana was pregnant, and despite their best efforts, opportunities for work disappeared entirely, leaving them to find a way to secure a stable future for themselves and their future daughter.

They decided to flee Ukraine. After a strenuous journey, the family eventually landed in Germany, where they stayed for eight months. In Germany, jobs were scarce, and overcoming the language barrier was hard.

Yurii then discovered U4U. By August 2024, the family was on their way to North Dakota, sponsored by a pastor in Lanell’s community who she connected with the young couple.

Lanell and her community have sponsored over 50 Ukrainians. Another 40 individuals are left waiting with pending applications due to the program's pause.

Lanell’s approach is all encompassing: “When they arrive, we pick them up at the airport, take them to their homes or apartments that we’ve fully furnished, get them to their jobs, help with work authorization, enroll the kids in school. We do it all.”

Inspired by the community impact of her work, Carrington’s mayor and Economic Development Committee established a local grant program to help employers offset sponsorship costs, enabling them to recover up to 75% of their sponsorship expenses.

Ukrainians have filled critical labor shortages in her community across industries, from agriculture and construction to hospitality.

“I know what it feels like when a child is scared. So every day, I try to make the children at daycare feel happy, safe, and loved,” Maryna said.

Lanell shares that these Ukrainian newcomers have brought new life to their shrinking town. More than just filling jobs, they are building community. Her grandkids are growing up and going to school alongside Ukrainian children. Sponsorship is truly part of their community.

Currently, she spends her days helping families navigate re-parole, TPS, and immigration pathways by collaborating with a local immigration lawyer. She’s doing whatever she can to help the families that want to stay in their community.

Despite her frustrations, she remains resolute, sharing, “There’s a lot of stigma against immigrants and refugees. But if people stopped and thought, ‘How did we all get here?’ We were all immigrants from somewhere.”

Lanell describes sponsorship as one of the most meaningful experiences of her life. “When you go to the airport and see that plane land, it’s just, we did it. We got them here. They’re safe. It’s a feeling you can’t really explain.”

For Lanell, sponsorship is about community. It’s honoring a promise and building a legacy rooted in compassion. She hopes to continue extending this helping hand to the countless other families waiting for what's next.

Thousands of Ukrainian families have found safety and security in the U.S. through the Uniting for Ukraine (U4U) program. But due to ongoing policy changes, these newcomers are unsure of what comes next.

You can share your support for private sponsorship pathways so that opportunities for safety and security, such as those provided by the Stedmans and their community in Carrington, are available to other newcomer populations.