Muncie ready, willing to welcome Ukrainian refugees

MUNCIE, Ind. (WISH) — Just a few months ago, when many Afghan refugees came to Muncie to start their new lives, the city and its residents opened their arms.

Now, they are planning to do the same for people fleeing the war in Ukraine.

Mark Hill owns a business Muncie. When the war started in Ukraine, he watched the events unfold on TV, along with the rest of the world. In that moment, Hill says, he felt a pull to do something to help.

“I thought, ‘I wanna make a difference,’” Hill said. “Sometimes, you can get complacent sitting in your own home, not thinking about that kind of thing. Well, that’s not me, you know? But it is us. This is something that’s affecting the world.”

Hill called the office of Muncie mayor Dan Ridenour and asked if the city could be in a position to take Ukrainian refugees, if needed. Ridenour was on board right away.

“With the success we’ve had with the Afghan refugee project, we felt like, ‘Hey, we kind of know what we’re doing as a city and we might be able to help,’” Ridenour said.

City leaders started that process Tuesday afternoon, meeting to discuss what the city needs to do to position itself to take on as many refugees as possible, if needed.

“The challenge is always finding the housing, so we’re looking at that in this meeting,” Ridenour said. “We don’t want to say, ‘OK, 500 is what we can take’ and then it’s only 80. I hesitate to put out a number at this time, but I think the willingness is there on our part as a city.”

Ridenour says taking on refugees is also beneficial to the city.

“With factories closing and population decreases, we’re looking for ways to increase our population as well,” said Ridenour. “So, there is an openness and a willingness to welcome this type of situation, absolutely.”

At this time, there is no specific plan for Ukrainian refugees to be brought to the United States, but Muncie is ready if needed.