Fergus Supports Local Ukrainian Refugee Family

Hello, my name is Katarina Zanelli and I am raising money for a Ukrainian family that recently immigrated to Fergus and is in need of a quality sewing machine, serger and supplies so the mother can make an income to provide for her family. Any additional funds raised will be given to the family to help pay for other necessities they are in need of.

I am Ukrainian and each year, we celebrate Ukrainian (Orthodox) Christmas. My great-grandparents were refugees and fled Ukraine during WW2. This year was a little different because we had special guests join us to celebrate. Within our school community, there were two new Ukrainian students in our children’s classes. We were excited to ask them to join us for Christmas knowing they are new to our country, new to our community, knew limited English, and were probably not able to celebrate with family this year. After having them over for Christmas, we learned about their story and made a connection with this family. We felt like we really got to understand their struggles and this no longer became about extending ourselves to just this one Christmas.

We learned that they had to leave their belongings in Ukraine and start a new life here in Canada. We offered as much support as we could, but we quickly realized that the help from my family would not be enough to cover all their needs. From basic household items such as cooking dishes to clothes for her growing children. Through talking with the mother, her biggest concern was having income to feed her family. She expressed her need for a sewing machine and serger to allow her to do the amazing work she did back in Ukraine (see photos below). We then knew we needed to reach out to our community to help her make these purchases easier. Having industrial-grade machines will allow her to build a business and provide income through her intricate work. Any additional funds raised will be given directly to the family for other necessities.

See their full story below:

This family of three had endured the war for ten days, with planes flying overhead and bombs exploding in the near distance. Olena knew she could not remain in their hometown and moved with her children to Poland where she stayed with some family. It was a big move as they needed to adjust to a new life, learn a new language, find work, start in a new school, and make new friends. After a year of living in Poland, the war on Ukraine continued (just 20 km from the Poland/Ukrainian border), the family waited in refugee status and Olena had the opportunity to move to Canada. She brought her little family over in hopes to make Canada their home. In September 2022, the family arrived and started anew. They were welcomed into a home with some support. In December Olena and the children moved into their own little place in Fergus. Leaving all their belongings behind in their home in Ukraine, Olena is slowly making their little two-bedroom apartment home. They share the two bedrooms, their kitchen is small, their cupboards are bare, but Olena has made it homely with her hand knitted dishcloths and towels. She loves to cook and feed her guests which reminds us so much of my great grandmother who was always cooking and feeding everyone who entered her home. Since meeting at Christmas, we have visited a few times now and each time Olena is so thankful to us for opening our home to them at Christmas. As we chatted on one visit, she knitted my little sister a pair of slippers as a means to thank her. The next visit she gave me a hand knitted an infinity scarf for my grandmother. She offers meals and genuinely enjoys feeding us :) She has so little yet gives so much!

Whenever we ask Olena if she needs anything or how we can help her, she tells us that the most important thing she needs is a job. If she is to stay in Canada she needs to show the government that she is working. She has a little money but knows it will only last a couple of months. She cannot drive in Canada yet as she needs certain documents that are still in her home in Ukraine. She is fairly local to everything in Fergus so she pretty much walks everywhere. She was so excited last week to share in a text that she got a part-time job at one of the local pizza places. Her next statement (a true relief to her but a heartbreaker for me) was “I am happy. Now I know we will have money for food at least. And I hope my sewing will also grow.” I had to read this line over, “Now I know we will have money for food at least”. I thought I understood what she was going through, I thought we were helping by giving her things that it looked like she needed, but reading that statement I understood how important a job is for her. Job = Food!

In one of our discussions, Olena said that she needs to find a job and she hopes that she loves what she does when she finds one. Olena has a university degree, she was a teacher in Ukraine and also worked on industrial sewing machines. Olena is an amazing sewer and she has shared many of her creations with us that were made back in Ukraine. She doesn’t just make new things, she is a true artist. She showed us how she repurposed and recycled so many pieces of old or damaged clothing to recreate something store worthy. Her work is beautiful, seams are neat, lining professional, zippers, snaps, and buttons look factory done, embroidery details exquisite, and paintings look like a computer designed and pressed in the fabrics! I could go on and on with compliments about her work! We are helping her to build an English Facebook page she can use as many people steer away from pages outside of Canada due to the many scams that take place these days. If you want to check out some of her amazing creations go to: https://www.facebook.com/search/top?q=elena%27s%20sewing%20corner%20in%20fergus

So if you are still reading we all thank you! This is where we are now, setting up this go fund me. We want to let Olena have the chance to do what she loves. Olena wants to continue sewing here in Canada, for both work and pleasure. She has already begun as she’s done a few alterations and sewing repairs for some local families in Fergus. The challenge is Olena is currently using a machine given to her that is 100 years old. The sewing machine is just one made for personal home sewing. The machines she used in Ukraine were industrial standards. She shared her most recent work and was disappointed as she pointed out the flaws with her current machine and spoke about her wishes to one day have a good machine where she can hopefully make a living off of her sewing.

One of our main goals of this fundraiser is to raise money to help Olena buy new sewing and serger machines so that she can use it for extra income to support her family. There are multiple ways that you can help including donating through the Go Fund Me, giving her the cash directly (no service fees deducted), use her services, spread the word and share!

Thank you very much

дуже тобі дякую