Northern Kentucky University is delighted to welcome world-renowned pianists and NKU alumni Anna Shelest ’05 and Dmitri Shelest ’05, ’08 back to campus for a special one-night-only benefit concert, with all proceeds going to support Ukrainian relief efforts. Both natives of Ukraine, the Shelest Family Duo will present a program of works by Ukrainian and American composers and will be joined by NKU School of the Arts string musicians and members of the NKU Chamber Choir.

The event will take place on Friday, April 22, 2022, at the Greaves Concert Hall, in the Fine Arts Building at Northern Kentucky University. NKU is offering free parking for this event.

100% of event proceeds will benefit Ukraine refugee relief via RefugeeConnect or Kentucky Refugee Ministries.

RefugeeConnect it was founded in 2013 by the Junior League of Cincinnati after a routine community needs assessment determined that connecting refugees to existing resources was a pressing need for women and children in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky. Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky specifically have a long history as refugee resettlement communities, beginning with the Holocaust survivors during World War II. Many American families have come to the U.S. fleeing oppression in their homelands. The initial community needs assessment revealed a lack of coordinated education, employment, housing, health care, and other essential services for refugees. The two years of research from 2011-to 2013 found a lack of coordinated refugee services in Greater Cincinnati. The findings identified that investing collaboratively in three key areas could change outcomes.

1. Close the gap between services provided and refugees’ immediate and long-term needs.

2. Create pathways to self-determination and self-sufficiency.

3. Promote community acceptance through volunteerism.

​ RefugeeConnect helps refugees and asylees navigate often unfamiliar systems, new cultural norms, and language barriers. RefugeeConnect promotes coordinated services so that this specific population of new Americans, who may be unaware of the patchwork of crucial resources already in place, reach their full potential as individuals, families, and civic and community leaders.

Kentucky Refugee Ministries, Inc. (KRM), a non-profit organization, is dedicated to providing resettlement services to refugees through faith-and agency-based co-sponsorship in order to promote self-sufficiency and successful integration into our community. KRM is committed to offering access to community resources and opportunities and to promoting awareness of diversity for the benefit of the whole

Vision

• To compassionately welcome and serve the world’s displaced people.
• To encourage the hope that lives within each human being by providing an atmosphere of hospitality, responsiveness, mutual respect, trust, and tolerance.
• To be known for our reliability, resourcefulness, partnerships and comprehensive services.

Services

Each refugee welcomed through KRM receives access to comprehensive services to empower them to make Kentucky home. Our Louisville, Lexington, and Northern Kentucky offices operate as a local affiliate of a national resettlement agency, Church World Service.