Helping 'family'

Inna Roux peers into the eyes of Ukraine refugees and recognizes the fear, the uncertainty of settling into a new country, anxious about adapting to an unfamiliar culture while trying to preserve generations of tradition.

And perhaps in those eyes Roux sees a reflection of her mother, facing immense challenges in an isolated area of eastern Ukraine, where Roux was born. In those eyes, she sees family, a life left behind. 

“It’s a been quite a journey for me to hear a lot of their stories,” said Roux, a Ukraine native who now lives in Denham Springs with her husband while completing a master’s degree in social work at LSU.

“I feel like I am helping my own country,” added Roux, a member of the National Guard who recently completed her first semester of a two-semester internship at Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Baton Rouge. 

“Ukraines are part of our family, and I want to do what I can for them and give to them,” she said.

The internship has provided her the opportunity to coordinate  the government-sponsored Uniting for Ukraine program for CCDBR. The two-year program provides an avenue for Ukrainians feeling their war-torn country entrance into the United States by identifying a sponsor that will offer them  housing and financial assistance and guiding them through the documentation protocols. 

“The sponsors advocate for them, help them with documents, adjust to a new culture,” Roux said. “They are good people, helping (refugees) find a better way of life.”

Once identified the sponsor must pass background and financial stability checks by the government, which can take a few days or up to several months. Typically, once approved, the families must pay their way to the United States, where they are met by their sponsor to begin their new lives.

Lisa Lee, director of Refugee and Immigration for CCDBR, explained the difference between Uniting for Ukraine and the typical process for refugees is the new program directly connects Ukrainian immigrants with sponsors in the United States. She said CCDBR’s involvement comes after the refugees have resettled and will assist with documentation, obtaining green cards and helping enroll children in school. 

Lee said the typical refugee process is different in that CCDBR is responsible for receiving refugees at the airport, providing furnished housing and meeting immediate needs.

According to Roux, the program has welcomed close to 60 Ukraine refugees, settling from New Orleans to Baton Rouge and Lake Charles. She has assisted the majority of them, grateful to help those fleeing her home that she originally left in 2016 to attend Bible school in Montana before moving to Virginia and earning a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Regent University in Virginia Beach, Virginia.

“I am fortunate to come here the way I did and have a lot to offer them to adjust to a new life,” she said. “I check on them to see how they are doing. Every time I have an interview (with a family) I am super excited to help them.”

Lee said that as a Ukrainian refuge, Roux has innate understanding of the challenges confronting newcomers.

“Inna is helping our clients and our staff understand cultural differences, as well as assisting with interpreting and translation,” Lee said. “She has truly been a blessing to the agency.”

Roux comes from humble beginnings, which perhaps instilled in her a strong desire to help others. Her father died when she was five years old and she lost her four brothers to accidents.  

In the second grade, the government placed her in a Ukraine orphanage because her mother, by then a widow taking care of a large farm, could no longer adequately care for her. 

After completing the ninth grade, Roux enrolled in a vocational school with the goal of becoming a secretary. In 2006 she became part of Orphan’s Promise, a nonprofit organization that helps orphans. 

Three years later, after completing vocational school, she switched roles and became an Orphan’s Promise volunteer and from 2011-15 she oversaw five orphanages in Ukraine.

Roux’s first trip to the United States, which she called a “dream come true,” came in 2015 when she attended a Bible school in Montana. A year later she was a student at Regent where she would meet her husband Jesse Roux, a Denham Springs native and a disabled veteran who served in Afghanistan. 

The joy she experienced in helping the young people in Ukraine motivated her to earn a degree in psychology and pursue an advanced degree in social work. 

“I love helping children with difficulties in their lives,” she said. “I want to be qualified enough to help them and I’ve always liked psychology.”

But while her focus is helping Ukrainians adjust to life in southern Louisiana, her displaced heart is halfway around the globe, on her mother as she works a farm in an area where the Russian army has cut off electricity and water. Her mom’s struggled include surviving the daily atrocities dished out by the Russians.

Roux said maintaining contact with her mom is difficult because one of the first things the Russians did was bomb cell towers.

However, some neighbors do have wi-fi, which allows for some communication.

“Soldiers come into your house and take what they want, food and other things (including cars),” Roux said. 

Drones constantly fly overhead and the Russian army imposes a daily curfew, she said. 

“(The Russians) are doing what they can to control the population,” Roux said. 

She recalled a recent incident  when more than 100 people were killed and many others injured by a Russian missile that struck as they were trying to bring food and other supplies into the village. 

With winter arriving, it was minus 20 degrees a week ago, there is concern about staying warm because of no electricity and the road to chop firewood is lined with landmines placed by the Russians.

The army has even banned the growing of the country’s trademark sunflower plants because the Russians fear the height of the flowers can provide cover to residents attempting to flee.

Roux said a week ago her mother related a story of a bomb exploding near her house, a blast so powerful it shook the windows. Roux recalled, as tears began to flow, that was the first time her mother admitted she was scared.

“My mother is a Christian, faith filled, and says that ‘if something happens, I will be with God sooner,” Roux said. “I tell her, ‘No mom, I don’t think I’m ready for that’ for selfish reasons. 

“I pray for her safety.”

Roux would like to be a sponsor in the Unifying for Ukraine program, something feasible because Roux has gained her citizenship, to bring her mother to Denham Springs. But her mother insists she does not want to leave, plus the risk is immense.

For now, Roux will remain on the front line in Baton Rouge, offering a friendly voice to frightened refugees. 

“I am like a role model to them,” Roux said. “I tell them anything is possible if you work hard and are determined.  

“There is hope.”