Helping Tetiana and Sergei with Legal Fees

We originally raised money to help Tetiana and Sergei, a Ukrainian couple, legally come to the US under the Uniting for Ukraine program that was set up to help Ukrainians fleeing violence and the destruction of their homes.

Now we are told that this program is in danger, as is our new friends' immigration status. Tetiana and Sergei have become friends, neighbors, and productive members of American society. They both have now full time jobs, work hard, and pay taxes. They have enjoyed living here and would like to stay.

We are raising money for legal fees so to explore their options. If they are ordered to depart the country, we will also use this money to try to help them yet again start over back in Ukraine or in Poland.

From the original fundraiser:

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February of 2022, Tetiana, Sergei, their daughter, and their dog were living peaceful, happy lives in the beautiful city of Izyum, on the Donets River in the eastern region of Kharkiv Oblast. Sergei had a furniture making business, Tatiana worked for local government, and their daughter was a college student.

The war disrupted their lives immediately and completely. For two weeks, they lived in a basement without electricity, water, heat, or communications, enduring constant artillery shelling, rocket attacks, and air strikes and not knowing exactly what was happening. But they knew they had to get out.

This is what their city looks like now:

On March 7, 2022, under heavy shelling, they gathered a few belongings, got in their car, and made an escape from their burning city. They got out just in time. Later that day, the Russians blew up the bridges into Izyum and occupied the city, entrapping its 40,000 residents.

This is where Tetiana once worked:

That night they made it to the town Slovyansk, 50 km away, where they were able to rest and take a shower. "In such moments, you begin to appreciate the most basic, seemingly trivial things," Tetiana says.

The next day they traveled with two other families to Dnipro, where they would stay for four months, enduring periodic shelling. They hoped the war might end quickly and they could return to their beloved home. But the fighting stretched on with no end in sight. They decided to flee into Poland, where they have been living ever since.

Tetiana and Sergei will be arriving in the coming weeks with their little dog, Uma. They hope their adult daughter will join them once they are settled. Their journey to reclaim a stable, peaceful life will continue here, and they will need our support.

While Congress dithers over Ukraine funding, we the American people have the opportunity to do our part to help our brave Ukrainian friends fight back against the cruelty, destruction, and violence Putin has inflicted, people to people, one family at a time. Let's build a bridge of love and friendship and welcome Sergei, Tetiana, and Uma the pup to America.

Slava Ukraini!