Thrive International began six months ago when Mark Finney sat at his computer and began brainstorming ways to help local refugees more effectively. Having a background in refugee support, Mark noticed there were gaps in refugee services, and the support offered was always nearsighted: focused on basic needs with no larger picture in mind. He was ready to start an organization that addressed the long-term needs no one was addressing. Mark thought about what it would look like for refugees to survive AND thrive. He wrote down five words that he believed were integral for the long-term success of any individual or community: physical, emotional, social, financial, and spiritual. His new nonprofit would focus on each of these areas, and the name came about from this mission statement: empowering local refugees and immigrants to move from ‘surviving to thriving.’
Two months later, these ideals were tested as the Ukrainian conflict displaced hundreds and thousands of families across borders and oceans, searching for safety. Having one of the largest Slavic communities in America, Spokane was a natural refuge for many Ukrainian families with ties to the community. Families with little room to share opened their doors to Ukrainian family members, housing them indefinitely. The Ukrainian refugee crisis had come to Spokane sooner than many people realized, and the Washington State Department of Commerce issued an emergency relief grant to the organization best positioned to address the need. The recipient of that grant was Thrive International. The three-month-old nonprofit organization (that started with one man’s vision on a laptop, working from his daughter’s bedroom as a temporary office) signed a master lease on a vacant hotel and turned it into a solution for the Ukrainian housing crisis in Spokane.
The previously empty Quality Inn on 4th Avenue is now Thrive Center. (Thrive Center’s 153 rooms are almost full of Ukrainian families as I write these words). With two event spaces and a commercial kitchen, Thrive Center is not only a housing solution for refugee families but also a home base for programming, community partners, and events.
Although the Ukrainian Crisis is currently at the heart of our work, Thrive International is also focused on the long-term needs of every multicultural community, especially refugee youth. Thrive’s vision, beyond the needs of the Ukrainian crisis, is to partner with organizations in the community to offer housing and programming solutions using Thrive Center as a home base of operations.
As you can imagine, the cost of operating an entire hotel is significant. The Ukrainian Relief Grant only made it possible for Thrive to begin the work, but we need your help to continue. If you’re able, please visit our website, www.thriveinternational.org, for more information on how to donate to Thrive International and continue to provide refuge for families in need.
-Marshall McLean, Communications Coordinator for Thrive International
