Dear Friends, Family, and Wonderful Supporters,

 

Never in my life have I imagined an event like the horrific Russian invasion of Ukraine unfolding in front of us all on the news, nor the need to reach out for your help and support at this time. Unfortunately, we are being shown that unthinkable events can completely change the course of life at a moment's notice. In my mother's name, Tamara Golovachova, I created this 'Go Fund Me' for my family members in Kyiv, Ukraine, that are directly impacted by the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

 

My family of fourteen persons (ages 3 - 81: Grandma, Mother, Father, Brother and his wife with two children, Aunt and her family with two children, and my brother's wife's family of three adults) reside in apartments and homes in and around Kyiv, Ukraine. Shortly after the full scale invasion started, about half of my family (1st group of 3), all women and children, were able to leave their residences and drive west for two days to the border where there are peaceful skies. It took an additional thirty hours for them to cross the border into Poland to safety and another day to secure reasonable temporary housing so all could stay together.

The remaining family members could not leave as their homes became surrounded by active shelling and local roads became unreliable with blockades and checkpoints.  One group of remaining family (3rd group of 3) in their home, that is located very close to a bomb/missile explosion site, has an elderly grandma with dementia and limited resources. [Following update provided on April 2022] They spend their days in the local church basement, now a bomb shelter, and their nights at home sleeping in their cold basement.  Unfortunately, due to the decreasing proxmity of fighting, they lost electricity several days ago.  I pray daily for their ability to safely evacuate with the assistance they need and follow the rest of the family out of harms way. 

 

Being affected and displaced like this for an undetermined amount of time comes with significant costs. The invasion not only took away their ability to safely occupy residences in Kyiv, but also caused them great unexpected expenses, in addition to completely ceasing all of their incomes. They are currently in immediate need of all basic necessities. Reputable global news networks forecast the situation will continue for at least 3 months - if not much longer.

 

With a heavy heart, I kindly ask for your consideration for donations to this 'Go Fund Me'.  100% of your donations to this 'Go Fund Me' will immediately go to this Ukrainian family during this horrific humanitarian crisis.

Additionally, we greatly appreciate your prayers for: my family, all Ukrainians, innocent people of both countries, light to overcome darkness, and a quick resolution to this egregious situation.  Please feel free to forward this link to anyone whom might be interested in directly helping a Ukrainian family.

 

Thank you for your financial support and prayers!

Update - March 14, 2022:
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'Go Fund Me' has completed i) verfiying all items, and ii) sucessfully linked this 'Go Fund Me' to Tamara's international debit card, that we provided her years ago and have used regularily, so the funds are now flowing directly to Ukrainian family, now refugees fleeing their own country and life long city of Kyiv.

Update - March 16 - March 20, 2022
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On a brighter note, Tetyana's long time family friends have offered the temporary use of their summer house, a 2 bed 1 bath, 300 yr old, masonry row house in a village in France  The village is located approximately 200 km SW of Paris - far from the fighting and away from crowed areas of Poland where food shortages are starting to take hold.  However, the house is not ideal for all family members escaping Ukraine, so an alternate space is being organized with the assistance of the village Mayor and Deputy, and support from the local community.  See two recent articles and additional updates below:

Une grande solidarite a Manves-sur-Huisne pour accueillir les refuvies ukrainiens
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https://actu.fr/normandie/mauves-sur-huisne_61255/une-grande-solidarite-a-mauves-sur-huisne-pour-accueillir-les-refugies-ukrainiens_49541985.html

"Great solidarity in Mauves-sur-Huisne to welcome Ukrainian refugees.  

When the Mayor learned that Béatrice Girod, a part-time resident of the village, was going to receive Ukrainians refugees, he came to assure her of the support of the community.

Jean-Pierre Rocton, Mayor of the village, and Michel Bordeaux, Deputy, have worked hard to restore the unused library.

'We are human. We cannot remain insensitive to what is happening there. Above all, we realize with these life paths, how lucky we are to be in a country at peace.'

It had become a storage place for associations, but we thought it would be emptied soon. The village can afford to do this work in order to make it a decent dwelling space.  We need to transform a room into a bathroom,' the mayor hopes.

The space, out of sight, even has a small corner of the garden behind the building. We installed a small table for sunny days. 'They will be fine here,' thinks aloud Michel Bordeaux, town Deputy.


Fuyant la guerre, une famille ukranienne trouve refuge a Mauves-sur-Huisne
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https://actu.fr/normandie/mauves-sur-huisne_61255/fuyant-la-guerre-une-famille-ukrainienne-trouve-refuge-a-mauves-sur-huisne_49541898.html

" ... Anastasia (32) walks around the rooms while son, Pasha (9)  seems delighted to get some fresh air in the little piece of land behind the house. In the kitchen daughter, Yana (3), comes across small dolls arranged on the table. “Can I play with them?,” she asks her Mom in Ukrainian. The town provided dolls - something to make her smile.

[ Pic ]
3-year-old Yana found little dolls in their new temporary home.

Leaving the accommodation, Anastasia isolates herself to take a few steps in the yard. Tears stream down her face. She hastily wipes them away, while Beatrice comes to comfort her and say a few words to her about her husband, father-in-law, both parents, and grandma still in Kyiv unable to leave.

In the next few days, they will have to go to the prefecture to obtain 'temporary protection status'. How long will their stay last?  They don't know it themselves. But one thing is certain, in Mauves-sur-Huisne, they will never be alone."

Update - March 22, 2022:
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After waiting most of the day in the boarder crossing line, Aunt, Yulia, and her two children (2nd group of 3) crossed the boarder into Poland and will drive 22 hr.s to the 1st group of family members already in France.

 
Update - June, 2022:
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- The fighting became too close for the 3rd group of family members still in Kyiv.  The family had to leave their home and sought shelter in a small apartment in d/t Kyiv.  Shortly after they left their home, their residential neighborhood was actively shelled.  The home next to their home had a direct hit.  Subsquently, the roof of their home caught fire, burnt, and collapsed inward.  Their multigeneral home of 15+ years is seriously damaged and clearly unhabitable.  The neighborhood is now closed off.  It is thought that, at some date in the future, the entire neighborhood will be scraped and abated of war related toxins before considerations are made to reestablish utilities.

- Tetyana, Jake, and William flew to visit family members and friend-hosts in France.  The visit was emotional and necessary.

- Yana, Anastasia's Mom was able to get out of Kyiv - although alone.  She had to drive 2,500 km from Ukraine to France.  Now 9 of 14 family are out of Ukraine and 4 family members remain in Kyiv.

- A TV crew from Paris filmed our Ukrainian family members for a full day and broadcasted a news segment on French TV:

News Regarding Ukraine:
War in Ukraine - The New Life of a Refugee Family in Orne
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https://www.francetvinfo.fr/monde/europe/manifestations-en-ukraine/guerre-en-ukraine-la-nouvelle-vie-d-une-famille-refugiee-dans-l-orne_5080027.html#xtor=CS2-765-[facebook]-