With the Biden administration announcing the United States will accept 100,000 Ukrainian refugees, Philadelphia and especially Montgomery County is expected to be a main arrival and resettlement area due to the size and strength of the local Ukrainian community, write Jeff Gammage and Jonathan Tamari for The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Currently, around 15,245 Ukrainian immigrants live in the Philadelphia region.

There are also 54,324 residents of Ukrainian ancestry. Over the last decades, they have built many local institutions, including the Ukrainian Educational and Cultural Center in Jenkintown, the Ukrainian League of Philadelphia in Fairmount, and the Ukrainian Selfreliance Federal Credit Union in Feasterville, among others.

Additionally, one of the most prominent educational institutions in the region, Manor College in Jenkintown, was started by a Ukrainian religious order in 1947 and has many classes and Ukrainian resources.

“We have an amazing, vibrant Ukrainian community, with very deep roots, with very established businesses and landlords,” said Gretchen Shanfeld, senior director of program operations at Nationalities Service Center, a resettlement agency. “We’ve already had conversations about what pieces can they help with — housing being primary.”

Read more about Ukrainian refugees arriving to Philadelphia, and specifically, in the Ukrainian commmunties of Montgomery County in The Philadelphia Inquirer.