Safety for Yura and Marianna

YOU CAN HELP MY DEAR FRIENDS

I am raising money for my dear friends Yura and Marianna, who just escaped Ukraine. They had to leave everything behind, and now they need legal support, money for short- and long-term housing, travel expenses, food, clothes, everything.

Your contribution will help Yura and Marianna with these expenses, and they will also use the money raised to free their families and friends. This plea is not about war or politics; it's about the 43 million people of Ukraine. We must help who we can. The fund will go directly to Yura's bank account.

Yura is the Landscape Architect for my business, and he and Marianna grew up together in Ukraine, and they both have families there. Yura first came to the US in 2018 to envision a new life in California and create a business here. In 2019, the US government denied his application and gave him 21 days to leave the country.

Now, after traveling through four cities--Kyiv, Chesney, Vinnistsia, and Lviv--and finally reached the border of Slovakia at 3 am and crossed into Slovakia at 5 am our time last Thursday, Feb 24th.

They have been up every night as they plot their way out, listening to news reports to find a safe route. Thank God he is out. Now they hope to get to Prague, where they can fly to Amsterdam.

Map of their route.

And now the grief begins. Marianna is devastated. All of her family remains in Kyiv. Yura's mother has a home in Chesney, and his father remains there. They may never see their families again, and I cannot imagine the pain they must be experiencing. And apply this to the 43 million people living in Ukraine. It's heartbreaking.

Here's a link to an interactive map of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

https://liveuamap.com/en/2022/26-february-ukrainian-army-says-another-il76-shotdown-near

About Yura

Yura is a Landscape Architect trained in Helsinki and Copenhagen. He has two master's degrees, one in Landscape Architecture and one in Public Parks design. He has designed spaces worldwide that connect people with nature, what he calls the "Nature Experience." Here are some examples of the work that we do together. Here is a link to his YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9DPuQkkSenKKMgkfu8hHGg/videos

About Marianna

Marianna speaks four languages. (More to come!)