Resettling Ukraine Family in Stillwater area

Hello, we are a group of Rotarians from the Stillwater area who have found a refugee family that needs help relocating.

We are assisting this family with immigration paperwork, finding travel arrangements, connecting with local resettlement agencies, getting housing secured, assisting with transportation, enrolling the children in school, finding Oksana work, and walking through the medical system. We could use your help in whichever way you feel comfortable.

Oksana Simochkina and her daughters left Odessa, Ukraine after the war started. Odessa was heavily hit early on due to it being a port town on the Black Sea. She brought her two daughters to Germany to find temporary safety and has been trying to get to the US. She has been working in a bakery, cleaning at night in exchange for a place to stay above the bakery. Oksana's two daughters were competitive swimmers before the war started and have missed their favorite pastime.

Our goal is to get Oksana and her two girls here to the Stillwater area, enroll in school for this fall, and have the girls join the swim team. There are a lot of things that need to happen for this to be accomplished. We want to find housing and work near Stillwater so that she can spend as little time commuting so she can be with her family.

The immigration paperwork has been submitted and accepted. Our goal is to get them on a plane as soon as we can as their refugee program has 90 days for them to set foot in the US.

There are also items that we can accept in lieu of money. There are a few scenarios that can play out, but here are things that we will either be buying or taking as donations. If you have a potential item, please let me know and I can see if it will work for them.

Housing: We have found temporary housing and are searching for an apartment for them to rent. If you know a property manager or owner that would be willing to talk with us, we would appreciate the connection.

Transportation: They will need reliable transportation. Public transportation is difficult to use outside of Minneapolis and St. Paul, especially for someone who does not speak English. Our group is prepared to give rides as necessary in the beginning, but want to assist her in getting her license as quickly as possible. Maybe there is an elderly parent that no longer needs a car? Do you know someone buying a new car that could donate their old car?

Household items: We are currently collecting stamps from friends and family for Cub Foods and their Kitchenware program to buy them new items for the kitchen. We will most likely be needing furniture, TV, and computers. Everything from couches to desks to beds and dressers.

Employment: Our plan is to enroll Oksana in English learning classes the first few weeks she is here to help make her more employable. She is willing to work in almost any role as long as it is not a long commute. She has experience driving, working in restaurants as a server and manager, cleaning, and childcare. If you know anyone that is in need and willing to work through a language barrier, we could use the connection.

Thank you very much for reading about Oksana's journey. Any contribution made is not tax deductible due to it going directly to one family. I hope you consider making a contribution that you are comfortable with. All money will be going to support Oksana and her family and be spent here in the US with the one possible exception of early travel arrangements before their arrival.

***Update***

Oksana and her daughters are arriving on October 11!!!! Their flight will bring them to Amsterdam and then directly to Minneapolis/St Paul Airport! A group of us will be meeting them at the airport (no details yet) and then bringing them to their temporary home with one of our group members until they can find an apartment. We are hoping that can be as early as Nov 1 with the back up plan of Dec 1. 

One of our members has talked with the swim coach at Stillwater High School to see if her daughters could still join the swim team and it looks like they should be able to for the end of the season. We are also looking into local swim clubs for them to get involved in outside of school.

We will have a busy few weeks once they arrive. We will be working with Lutheran Social Services Refugee Services group to help get them all the services and benefits they need. We are also looking into English classes for Oksana while we wait for her work permit to get approved which takes about two months along with getting her her driver's license.

 

Our top priorities have shifted to finding an apartment or home and a reliable car for them to use. If you know anyone that is not using their car anymore or has an extra that they would be willing to sell, please let us know. 

We have been getting offers for home furnishings for Oksana to use. Please email me pictures of the items you are considering donating and I will coordinate time with Oksana to review the items and see which she would prefer. We are not going to need most of them until they get into their permanent location.

Until she can get her license and we can get them a car, we will be coordinating transportation for them. Public transit in the Stillwater area is minimal. I am going to be creating a calendar for people to sign up for days/times to be available if they need a ride. We have not worked out the specifics on what this will look like or what her needs will be yet. More details to come. If you are interested in helping with rides, please let me know.