Self-Reliance Association of American Ukrainians

Self-Reliance Association of American Ukrainians (Об’єднання українців Америки; Obiednannia ukraintsiv Ameryky, or Самопоміч; Samopomich). A social welfare organization founded in New York in 1947 by recently arrived Ukrainian immigrants. The association organized Ukrainian nurseries, schools, and homes for the elderly. It supported financially Ukrainian schools in Germany, Austria, and Poland and Ukrainian student organizations in Western countries. The original professional sections of the association (engineers, teachers, and students) eventually separated into independent societies. Most of the local branches of Self-Reliance formed Self-Reliance federal credit unions bearing the same name. In 1950 the association began to publish the magazine Novyi svit, which in 1959 was renamed Nash svit (New York). By 1962 it had 18 branches and almost 7,000 members. In 1990 it had 21 branches and 15,000 members. Its presidents have included Petro Andrusiv, Volodymyr Kalyna, Yuliian Revai, S. Sprynsky, and Yevhen Lozynsky.

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 4 (1993).]