US Together

Us Together Inc. assists refugees from all over the world. We help families with everything from housing, transportation, education, ESL classes, immigration documents, acculturation, employment searches, medical referrals, financial assistance, and much more.

Brief History:

Yelena Tarkhanova (Helen), is a Refugee from Russia who came to the United States with her family in 1994. Her career in Refugee Resettlement began with Jewish Family Services (JFS) in the early 90’s.

Unfortunately, in September of 2007, JFS had to close its doors due to a decrease in arrivals from the former Soviet Union. Helen, and her friend Olga Sonis, who was also a Russian Refugee working at JFS, decided they wanted to continue helping Refugees resettle new families from other nations. Afteropening their own office on Chagrin Blvd., Helen and Olga reached out to two other RussianRefugees who had a very similar story.

Tatyana Mindlina and Nadia Kasvin also worked at JFS in Columbus, until its close in 2003. Since then they started their own non-profit Resettlement Agency called “US Together.” After a meeting between these four women, the decision was made; US Together would open its very first branch in Cleveland, with Helen and Olga. Now, almost 5 years later, US Together has grown immensely, employing over 25 full-time positions and resettling an average of 500 Refugees annually between the two offices. US Together continues to grow as we help families reestablish their lives and begin their new journey here in America.

Our Mission: To coordinate, organize, and initiate services to immigrants and refugees through education, advocacy, support services, information, referrals, and networking opportunities in order to strengthen the community that we live in.