Help Us with Ukrainian Resettlement Efforts

August 6, 2023

Please consider helping us with the resettlement of our next Ukrainian family. They are a family of 4, with mom, dad, a 7-year-old son, and a 22-month-old son. This family is from the Luhansk region of Ukraine, where fighting with Russia has been ongoing since 2014. The father was involved with the Ukrainian military in the fight against Russian forces, enduring significant combat experiences (such as enduring his entire platoon being killed). They are unable to return to their home in Luhansk (in occupied territory currently) and nearly all of their family is scattered about (some who moved to Russia, while others moved internally within Ukraine) leaving them with no close relatives for support as they raise their two sons. The family is looking for more peaceful environs here in our local community. They will be arriving here on August 23, 2023.

We learned about this family from the first Ukrainian family we sponsored locally, the Kondratenkos. Alla and Maksym are the godparents to the family's oldest son and they are some of Alla and Maksym's closest friends. When the family reached out for help, it was logical to consider having them move close by (not only for support for the new family, but also emotional support for the Kondratenkos as well).

We are in need of financial support for their flight and some very basic resources as they settle into the community. The charity that we've used for many of the flights for other Ukrainian families evacuating is unable to take on any more cases at this time, as their donor pool has dried up nationally (they are reserving their remaining assets for extreme cases). So, we are reaching out to our own community and social media contacts to help us try to offset the expenses for travel to get the family here safely.

Any additional financial resources above the flight costs (around $2100) will be applied to basic supplies such as food items, baby items, etc. to start them off before their local refugee resettlement services begin.

We are also in need of temporary housing for the family for August 23-September 1, when we will hopefully move them into an apartment here in Saline. They have a cat they will be bringing with them (we can temporarily house the cat with us in an effort to find a place for the family to stay short term). Reach out if you have any leads or suggestions on temporary housing options in the area!

Pics of the family are included below. Please consider sharing this post with your social media contacts to elevate this message. We've had wonderful, consistent support in a multitude of ways since June 2022 when we got involved in Ukrainian resettlement efforts. We are grateful to everyone who engages with their little piece of the resettlement puzzle to help the evacuation of Ukrainian families become such great success stories.