12:00: Preparing Ukrainians for life after war
1:00: Special rebroadcast: The Landmark Society's 2026 Five to Revive
How can Ukrainians best prepare for a post-war future? It's a question we address in the first half of the hour with guests from the Open World Program. The professional exchange initiative is meant to bolster understanding and cooperation between Ukraine and the U.S. Our guests this hour discuss how they envision education and technology will play a role in Ukraine's future. We also address what Ukrainians need most at this stage of the war, including medical supplies. In the second half of the conversation, we turn our attention to Rochester, where a nonprofit organization is helping Ukrainian refugees access housing. In studio:
- Kseniia Verhal, Ph.D., deputy director of the Educational and Research Institute of Information Technologies and Robotics at National University Yuri Kondratyuk Poltava Polytechnic
- Mariia Yurina, head of international relations at Protez Foundation and facilitator of the Open World Program under the Congressional Office for International Leadership
- Harlan D. Calkins, president of the Ukrainian Housing Foundation
- Tracy Kroft, member of the advisory board for the Ukrainian Housing Foundation and chief development officer for Catholic Charities
Then in our second hour, we continue our series of conversations about local history with a special rebroadcast about the Landmark Society of Western New York's 2026 Five to Revive. A local house ravaged by fire last year has made the list of properties identified for the potential for revitalization. The Morgan-Manning House in Brockport suffered significant damage after a fire in January 2025. This hour, we continue an annual tradition of discussing the Landmark Society's five selections, while exploring the latest in preservation work and why it matters. Our guests:
- Wayne Goodman, executive director of the Landmark Society of Western New York
- Larry Francer, assistant director of the Landmark Society of Western New York
- Katie Eggers Comeau, senior architectural historian at Bero Architecture and member of the Five to Revive Committee at the Landmark Society of Western New York
- Paul Kimball, project manager and former president for the Morgan-Manning House
- Karen Wood, co-owner of the Seneca Falls Machine Co. building
- John Zornow, board member for the Newark-Arcadia Historical Society
"Connections" is livestreamed each day on the WXXI News YouTube channel. Watch here.
