All Local, All The Time
All Local, All The Time
Niwot resident Victoria Keen met with "V" at WiNot Coffee recently to talk about V's efforts to remain in the U.S. with his wife "A," who are refugees from Ukraine.
He was a lawyer in a different life. She worked in the food safety industry. That was before February 24, 2022, in Ukraine.
Today, he works for a large retail outlet in Longmont. She is also employed. They live in a garden-level apartment in Niwot's Old Town area. Their surviving extended family members also live in the United States.
They live in fear of being deported, with nowhere to go. Though they entered the U.S. legally as refugees, the uncertainty of their status resulting from the Trump administration's changes to immigration policies, as well as mixed messages concerning U.S. support for Ukraine in its 3-year old war, have combined to cause anxiety and apprehension in their daily lives.
Though they asked that their names not be used in this article, they are known to many in Niwot, who have embraced them and are working to make sure they can continue to remain in their adopted home as productive community members.
"We like being part of the community," V (the husband) said at a recent meeting at Winot Coffee in Cottonwood Square. "We pay taxes. We try to help other people. We like the local people of Boulder County."
They arrived in the U.S. on August 16, 2023, under Temporary Protection Status (TPS) as refugees who left Ukraine due to the war. "We thought, 'This will be our home.'" V said. TPS status for Ukraine refugees under Ukraine Humanitarian Parole (UHP) has been extended until October 19, 2025, according to the American Immigration Council.
A's father, Y, who came here in November of 2023, lives in Longmont with A's sister, who has a green card which gives her sister lawful permanent residence status. "Y can do everything," V said in describing his father-in-law's work.
V's mother arrived in the U.S. in May of 2024. "We just can't go back," V said. "It's unsafe. More people will want to leave Ukraine."
Niwot resident Victoria Keen has coordinated a Niwot effort to assist V and A in their quest to remain in the U.S. In a recent email to her ad hoc committee members, she wrote, "Trump is threatening to revoke UHP (Ukrainian Humanitarian Parole) and TPS (Temporary Protected Status) for 240,000 Ukrainians who sought safety here in the US due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.There are a small number of Ukrainian refugees in Colorado, including an extended family here in my hometown of Niwot." She urged her readers to call the White House comment line and express concern.
Keen and her friends have gotten to know the refugees, and appreciate their hard work and commitment to the community. "They are launching a cottage kitchen business making authentic traditional Ukrainian baked goods featuring grandma's recipes," she said. "To start with, the baked goods are 'hand pies' with sweet or savory fillings. Look for them next to the Niwot Community Semi-Marching Free Grange Band in Cottonwood Square at Around the World Day on April 26."
The pie business is in addition to their full-time jobs. V and A would like to start a family of their own, but the uncertainty surrounding their lives has made that difficult.
Keen continued, "When we met at the coffee shop, it was a dark day due to Trump threatening to revoke UHP. Now it's so far, so good, but anything can happen with this unpredictable administration. We now have a committee coming up with ways to help [A and V] stay in the U.S. [A and V] have extensive experience in food preparation and [A] bakes delicious pastries on site at the Old Oak Coffee shop. The long-range dream is to start a food truck but in the short term, they would like opportunities to test their recipes with the public so that they can refine their product line."
Keen also reported that the committee would like to get them out in the community more. "We are looking into getting them into Niwot's various festivals as vendors," she said. "Their current 'test' model is similar to Marilyn at Squeak and Squawk, who makes jams, jellies, and baked goods at home which are sold at Niwot events, clearly labeled that they are not made in a commercial kitchen."
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