Please watch the beautiful video Sasha made of Sophia in Ukraine today.
We need help to get Sophia back to Purchase for her sophomore year.
I'm Laura Cahill, founder of Young Playwrights Ukraine.
Two years ago, I started a GoFundMe asking for your help sending two of my young Ukrainian writers to the U.S. for higher education. They were desperate. Both were accepted into prestigious BFA programs, but neither could afford the steep tuition. A remarkable opportunity almost slipped away from both of these hardworking, talented young women.
Together, we sent Sasha Sereda to SUNY Purchase for her BFA in filmmaking. One year later, we sent Sophia Hanziuk to SUNY Purchase for her BFA in acting.
We are extremely grateful for the friend who worked so hard to get Sasha and Sophia to SUNY Purchase. He is truly our hero. We are extremely grateful to so many of you who gave generously!
Right now, Sasha is going into her third year at SUNY Purchase. She's been extremely successful. She made two short films, and won an excellence award! An angel donor stepped forward to guarantee Sasha graduates.
Sophia had an amazing year. It was her first year away from home. It was a huge success. She needs to go back.
But right now Sophia is back in Ukraine, with no way of returning for her Sophomore year.
We need help to get Sophia back to Purchase for her second year
It’s heartbreaking for me to see her on Zoom now, in Kyiv, full of joy while she tells me stories about her classes and friends, and then trying not to weep.
Sophia lives with war every day. As you can see from the news right now, it's getting even harder in Ukraine.
Sophia is extraordinarily talented. She was admitted into the best programs in the U.S. because of her talent, and who she is as a person. She is an amazing, brave, kind, young person who will go far and make our business a better place for everyone she encounters.
Her family's entire life has been so disrupted by war, they can't pay for their daughter to get the education they want for her.
About Young Playwrights Ukraine:
After the invasion of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, a group of Ukrainian students met over Zoom with New York-based writer Laura Cahill to write plays in response to war. YPU has continued to work together for over four years. The writers have been mentored by distinguished playwrights and worked with noted actors and directors. Their plays have been performed on Zoom and in-person at theaters in New York at The Tank, the Vineyard Theatre, and The Segal Theatre, Orion Theatre in Stockholm, Ukraine Fringe in Kyiv, La Grange Theater in Dorset Vermont, Beacon, NY, Lex-Ham Theater in Minneapolis, Cockpit Theater in London and as far away as West Bengal, India. The plays are a part of Worldwide Ukrainian Readings and have been published by Smith & Kraus.
We have had as many as 51 young writers, take part in YPU. Most live in Ukraine. Some are refugees in Ukraine, having fled occupied territories, and some are refugees in Europe, UK, Canada and the US.
Financial Details from SUNY Purchase
International undergraduate students pay about $8,500 in tuition every semester, so $17,000 for the year.
There are some fees all students pay, about $950 per semester, so $1,900 for the full year.
And the cost of living on campus, in the standard dormitory is about $4,500 per semester, or $9,000 per year. This may go up a little bit for next year, between 1-2%
The cost of a standard meal plan is $3,100 per semester, $6,200 per year (all students living in the dormitories are required to have a meal plan, as the dorms do not have full kitchens). Same as with housing, this may go up a little bit for next year, between 1-2%
Additionally, international students are required to purchase health insurance which will add about $2,000 for the year.
With love,
Laura Cahill