Sponsor welcomes newcomers with support of matching grant
After quickly fleeing Ukraine at the start of the Russian invasion in 2022, Edgar and Elley faced uncertainty and fear about their future. As the young couple bounced from one temporary location to another, their unwavering faith kept them moving forward.
A higher power also played a role in nudging Craig Williams of Park Forest, Illinois, toward sponsorship. Craig was deeply moved by the devastation he saw on the news in Ukraine and wanted to help, but he worried he didn’t have the resources needed to support newcomers.
However, the idea of sponsorship lingered. As a veteran and a man of faith, he felt compelled to act. When he was a child, he remembered his parents tirelessly helping others.
“My parents for years and years, we always had people staying with us all the time,” Craig said.
While serving in the U.S. Army when he was 17 years old, Craig was stationed in Hanau, Germany. “Our primary mission was to stop and thwart Russian aggression. Then when [Russia] invaded Ukraine [in 2022], something just kind of struck a nerve with me. I wanted to get involved. I wanted to help. I thought it was a tragic situation,” he said. “My way of helping was not to be a soldier, but to support some of the families that I knew would be displaced.”
For nearly a year, Craig weighed the thought of sponsorship. His research led him to Welcome.US and the Welcome Connect platform, where he created a profile and completed the online training. His hesitations began to fade away.
I wasn't sure if I should do it or if it would work out. My house is not very large. I'm not rich or anything like that, but I thought that was a compelling piece to it. That you don't have to be rich. You don't have to have a lot of things to help people—you just have to be willing.
Nearly 100 people reached out to Craig on Welcome Connect before he connected with Edgar and Elley. The newly married couple first fled to Poland, then the Netherlands, and finally to Great Britain, with their hope to ultimately resettle in the United States. As the three talked more, Craig felt it was important to share his deep faith with Edgar and Elley. He discovered that they, too, were religious. Edgar previously worked as a youth director and missionary for an Orthodox church in Ukraine.
“That was some of the dialogue that helped me to make the decision about these guys,” Craig said.
Elley recalled the moment she came across Craig’s profile on Welcome Connect.
“I think that's him. He's the one who's going to help us,” Elley said she told Edgar. She added, “It's kind of like a sixth sense in a way. We're religious, and we believed that we would feel the right path, you know? So that was kind of one of those moments.”
Once Craig offered Edgar and Elley sponsorship, he began preparing for their arrival. As a member of the American Legion and president of his neighborhood association, Craig said his neighbors and network supported him in many ways, including in-kind and cash donations. One neighbor, nicknamed “Shoes,” introduced Elley to the neighborhood and even treated her to a pedicure.
“It's been really, really great,” Craig said.
He also received support through a matching grant from Welcome.US and GoFundMe.org. Last year, Welcome.US launched new sponsor support resources, aiming to provide more assistance to sponsors while reducing barriers to participation. The goal is to enable more Americans to become sponsors by directly connecting them with financial resources and services. The innovative program—in partnership with GoFundMe.org—provides matching funds up to $3,000 to support the fundraising efforts of sponsors, along with tools and resources for sponsors to raise funds directly through their communities.
“GoFundMe.org is thrilled to support Welcome.US sponsors with matching grants so they can quickly raise the funds they need to open their hearts and homes to newcomers," said Amanda Brown Lierman, Executive Director of GoFundMe.org.
“I'd been hearing other stories from other sponsors about their experiences, and I just happened to come across the matching grants,” Craig said. “ I was prepared to just foot the bill myself, but if I can get help from the community, why not?’”
Craig raised $375, and through the matching grant program, he was awarded another $1,000 per person, increasing his funds to nearly $2,400. He’s helped Edgar and Elley create a plan for using the money.
“We were using strategy, and everything is not new. I've given Ed some of the clothes that I have that fit him. And we'll do some secondhand shopping, but then we'll mix that in with particular new pieces from places that they're familiar with,” Craig said.
Before Edgar and Elley arrived, Craig also ventured into Chicago’s Ukrainian Village in search of guidance. He stopped in a restaurant, starting a conversation with the server, who directed Craig to the owner. The owner pointed Craig in the direction of the Self-Reliance Center.
At the Self-Reliance Center, a Chicago-based organization that helps Ukrainian newcomers arriving in the U.S., Craig found support in completing the USCIS applications on behalf of Edgar and Elley. In December 2023, Craig submitted the applications, and just a few months later, Edgar and Elley were on a flight to O’Hare Airport. They arrived in March of 2024.
For Edgar and Elley, after two years of uncertainty, the pieces were falling into place. Craig quickly helped them through the sponsorship applications, and they soon joined him in Chicago. Shortly after their arrival, Craig returned to the Ukrainian Village with Edar and Elley.
“We went to a coffee shop. It's called the Lviv Coffee Shop. Lviv is a city all the way in the West of Ukraine, and they are known for their coffee and their cuisine,” Edgar and Elley shared. “We went there with our sponsor. We were trying different meals, and we were telling him what he should try. He really liked it. We introduced him to our culture in his home—it was very beautiful.”
Craig also has shared American culture with Edgar and Elley, introducing them to his family and community and taking them to a Chicago Bulls basketball game. He said he is blown away by their strength and resilience.
“It’s like a match just made in heaven,” he said.
He also stressed the importance of helping anyone at any opportunity, reaching beyond the boundaries of typical comfort zones.
“I wanted the help to be to complete strangers, not to family members,” Craig said. “The thing I was always concerned with was how they saw me. I'm a Black person. I want to be an ambassador for African Americans. We are able to do this thing, too. I want people to know that you don't have to only help people that look like you, you can help others that don't look like you… We have a heart, and we see what's going on, and we want to help, too.”
Edgar and Elley are finally able to look forward to their future, adapt, and gain independence through their own determination and the act of sponsorship by a stranger on the other side of the world. They hope that their latest move will provide long-term stability. Elley—whose schooling was interrupted first by COVID and then by the war—wants to continue courses in supply chain management and find a good job. Edgar hopes to work with Craig on his side business. Both are eager to learn the language and pass their driver’s tests so they can gain even more independence.
“Our main goal is to become more independent and established," Edgar said. "We want to reach a level where we can choose where we want to live.”
Craig shared that if the war in Ukraine continues, he would sponsor again. “It's been a real pleasure to meet people—especially people of faith—who demonstrated faith in another part of the world,” he said. “I've gotten a lot out of this.”
To other potential sponsors, Craig shared, “If you're on the fence, just go with your gut. Go with your heart. Because in America, we help people. That's what we do.”
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