A new group has launched in Spokane to support refugees. The group, called Thrive International, has already received a $1 million grant to assist people fleeing from Russia’s war on Ukraine. Thrive says it also hopes to help Afghans, and other groups relocating in the area.
Mark Finney, director of Thrive International, says he hopes to help refugees resettling in the Spokane area find long-term housing, community and faith connections, and provide opportunities to immigrant youth.
“We really want to partner with those agencies as they bring new people here and help them get established,” he said. “We want to fill out around them to make sure that both in terms of the initial experience of housing for example, we can help provide more hopefully, but in the longer term, after than initial 90 days that the resettlement agencies have, we want to build a little bit of a longer runway to make sure folks really get off the ground.”
Finney is the former director of the Spokane World Relief Office, a refugee resettlement group. He says one of Thrive International’s first projects will be to use a $1 million contract it was recently awarded by the county to assist Ukrainian refugees with housing costs, or potentially purchase a building to turn into refugee housing.