User:Chennault41/Ukrainian Americans in Los Angeles Draft

Demographics
Data compiled by the Shevchenko Society from 2009-2011 United States Census data reported 26,222 persons declaring themselves to be of partial or full Ukrainian ancestry living in the Los Angeles county area. This is the fourth largest population of Ukrainian ancestry in a metropolitan area, behind New York, Philadelphia, and Chicago, respectively. Of this population, 15,872 were reported as being born in the U.S. while 10,350 were born in foreign countries.

Immigration Patterns and Movement
There have been four major waves of immigration from Ukraine to the United States. The first wave of immigration occurred between 1890 and 1914 and was primarily composed of economic migrants seeking out work. The second wave occurred in between the first and second World Wars. During World War II, a third wave occurred, which contained more political refugees than the first two waves of immigration. The current wave of immigration, known as the “fourth wave,” is economically driven with emigrants moving to find better living conditions and higher wages. While immigrants from the three previous waves tended to settle in Ukrainian communities in New York or Chicago, members of the fourth wave are increasingly settling in California, “choosing cities with more lucrative job opportunities.” The number of Ukrainians in California increased by 73.7%, from 54,141 to 94,044 people, from 1990 to 2006 while the number of Ukrainians decreased by -2.0% in New Jersey and only increased by 20.4% in New York state. Currently, 16.9% of all Ukrainian-Americans live in the Pacific Coast area, which is a 67.7% growth in share from 10.1% of the total population in 1990. The population of Ukrainian-Americans in the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area increased by 23.6% from 21,398 people in 1990 to 26,456 people in 2006.

Language
The two Eastern European languages primarily spoken by Ukrainians in Los Angeles are Russian and Ukrainian. As of 2010, 26.2% of Ukrainians in Los Angeles speak Russian at home and 6.4% speak Ukrainian. In the state of California, 26.0% of Ukrainians speak Russian and 18.5% speak Ukrainian at home.

Religion
Ukrainian-Americans in Los Angeles of the Christian faith are primarily either a member of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church or Ukrainian Catholic Church. In Los Angeles, there are two Orthodox churches, the Saint Andrew Ukrainian Orthodox Church and the Ukrainian Orthodox Church of Saint Vladimir. There is also a Ukrainian Catholic Church, the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary Ukrainian Catholic Church.

Organizations
The Ukrainian Culture Center is located at 4315 Melrose Ave in the West Hollywood area of Los Angeles. The center hosts a children’s Ukrainian school and Ukrainian folk dancing for adults every Saturday, as well as a Ukrainian Independence celebration and Holodomor remembrance event every year. The California Association to Aid Ukraine (CAAU) is an all-voluntary, non-profit organization based in southern California that channels local support and fundraising for the people of Ukraine. The CAAU has partnered with the Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles to send medical equipment to the Ukraine. They also pay to bring Ukrainian doctors to Los Angeles for training at Cedars-Sinai.