Welcoming Tatiana and Sergei to America

We are a group of neighbors in Arlington, VA sponsoring a Ukrainian family through a US government program called Welcome Connect. Sergei and Tatiana have been approved to come to the US on a Temporary Protected Status visa that helps endangered people "find safety and escape war, violence, and persecution." We will be assisting them with finding housing, employment, health care, and anything else they need as they settle here in the US.

We appreciate donations of any amount to help us get their new lives up and running. In addition, if you know of any employment opportunities in the DC area, please let me know at holl[email redacted] Tatiana worked in an office setting and is a trained manicurist as well. Sergei is generally very handy and skilled at furniture making and carpentry.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February of 2022, Tatiana, 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 Tatiana 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," Tatiana 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.

Tatiana 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, Tatiana, and Uma the pup to America.

Slava Ukraini!