Hi all,

Twenty-one years ago, I traveled to Ukraine to adopt my daughter Sasha, who some of you know. The adoption attorney who took me around for weeks and made it all happen was a lovely young woman named Yulia. We became fast friends and have stayed in touch all these years.

The war in Ukraine has forced Yulia and her two children to leave everything and flee their home in Kyiv. They are currently in the Lviv region (near Poland), often in bomb shelters or encountering air raids. I’m on the phone every day with Yulia, trying to help her get to a safer place. The pictures and videos she sends us are terrifying.

I’m raising funds to help cover expenses for Yulia and her children so they’re able to leave Ukraine as soon as possible. We are hoping to bring them to the US for a period of time (hopefully staying at my house for the summer) until the situation in Ukraine stabilizes, and she can return to her job in Kyiv.