Let's Go South Bay for our new Ukrainian refugees

A group of South Bay women are raising money to help house Ukrainian refugees here in Los Angeles. Here is our story:

In early March, Kate Griendling and her husband opened their home as a temporary emergency shelter for Ukrainian refugees that make it to LA through a program called Ukraine Take Shelter. So far, they have been helping two families who reached out to Kate. The support from the community has been overwhelming -- we've secured food, doctors, clothes, luggage, bikes, toys, diapers, newborn supplies, and more. The one major obstacle is affordable housing.

Currently, there are two families in need of housing.

Georgii & Yuliya

Daughter - 12

Son - 7

Son - 10 mons

Their story: This family arrived in the US mid March after fleeing Kiev with very little. They had 15 minutes to pack up and leave and only took what they could carry in case they needed to walk. They've traveled a tremendous way, leaving behind everything they own. Yuliya has been able to keep her job working remotely in education. Georgii is applying for jobs (he works in international sales) and is trying very hard to get his visa approved so that he can work. Georgii's family needs to stay in the South Bay / Torrance area because one of our amazing volunteers just secured scholarships for the two eldest children to attend American Martyrs School. Right now this family can afford $2000/month and is looking for a 1 or 2 bedroom place. They are currently staying with one of our volunteers but they need a permanent location ASAP. They aren't asking for free rent - but they need our help to secure a place as housing a family of 5 costs more than $2000/month.

Alex & Anna

Son - 10

Daughter - 7

Daughter - 18 mons

Newborn - due end of May

Their story: This family fled Kiev and made it to the US on April 1. It's been an incredibly difficult journey for them given that their daughter is a type 1 diabetic and Anna is in her third trimester. Alex & Anna can live anywhere given that their children are still enrolled in online school. We have secured a temporary rental from April 13th - June 30th. The generous owner of the home is giving us an incredible deal (first month free, and discounted rate for the last 6 weeks). We are so grateful because this means that Anna can have her baby and rest for about 4 weeks before they have to move again. Our community has come out in force - One rockstar volunteer, Shirley, helped us furnish the entire house (it was empty) so Alex, Anna and their kids can live in comfort. But they will have to move come the end of June so we are hoping to raise money to help them find permanent housing.

As part of the shelter organization, we anticipate there will be more families that come through Kate's home. Our group will be using these funds to continually support families that make it here, but our primary goal is to place these two families in stable housing situations.

WHO WE ARE:

Kate Griendling is a television producer and mama of two babies. In March 2020 she and co-founder Brooke Kronschnabel launched the non-profit Fueling the Fearless (FTF). Their mission was to provide essential workers with meals by propping up local restaurants that were struggling. FTF raised $50,000; delivered over 10k+ meals; supported over 60 restaurants and over 60 hospitals and organizations; served nurses, doctors, hospital janitorial staff, transit employees, LAFD, helicopter EMTs, grocery store workers, foster care families, veterans, homebound seniors, and families in shelters.

PRESS:

Fueling the fearless during a pandemic from KCET.org

Feeding the frontline workers from People.com

FTF would not have been possible without the volunteers we had -- and the call to help our community again has presented itself as we try to support Ukrainian refugees in our own neighborhood.

Cindy De Garceau is a local Realtor and has been a pivotal part of our efforts -- she secured an OBGYN for Anna and an endocrinologist for their daughter. She's also leading the fundraising efforts and housing search.

Laura McCoy is an accountant and served as the accountant for FTF. She will do the same for this effort. Our goal is always to provide transparency when it comes to how we spend your donations.

Shirley Seki furnished our temporary house in less than 24 hours and has rounded up volunteers to help with the move and countless other needs.

How you can help:

Donate to our housing fundraiser

Spread that word that we are searching for two apartments (one for each family - 2 bedroom is prefered but we'd absolutely consider a 1 bedroom).

Email us if you want to be part of our housing search - we cold call everyday!

Many Thanks,

Kate, Brooke, Cindy, Shirley + Laura