Ukranian Refugee Family Fund - 4 Vitalii & Lana
Donation protected
I met Vitalii and Lana in November of 2019. At that time they were a young family of 4 from the Ukraine transplanted in the United States (Dallas, TX) on a work visa. Having no local family, we opened our home to them for the holidays and tried to provide some bit of a local support system for them.
They decided in March of 2020, with the looming worldwide pandemic, to return to the Ukraine and be with family. Their flight was one of the last to leave New York Laguardia airport before international travel was shut down.
Upon their return home they began to put down roots in their home country in the city of Kharkiv, just 22 km from the Russian border. They purchased a home, had their 3rd child and adopted a dog. Life was somewhat normal for a time...The Russian invasion of Ukraine has forced them to leave their extended family and belongings to seek safety.
Each step to return to the United States has been a huge hurdle.
- First leaving behind a home, cars, family, everything of value without knowing if they will have anything to return to.
- Next, a series of country hopping and couch squatting as they looked to the kindness of others to provide the most basic of needs.
- One denied work visa.
- Completion of the US Ukranian Refugee sponsorship documentation and a family to provide sponsorship.
- 2 robberies throughout their travels
- The depletion of much of their personal savings to travel to safety
Vitalii works as a software engineer and has always prided himself in providing for his family and planning for the future. Due to these drastic circumstances they find themselves in they will arrive (TODAY, July 20 2022) in the United States with depleted resources to get an apartment, purchase a car and take care of the day to day needs of the family while he works towards obtaining a job.
Any funds received will be distributed by me, Lainey Nakhleh to Vitalii and Lana Honcharuk for the following needs:
- Daily needs (food, shelter, gas, toiletries)
- A deposit on a rental property/apartment
- A car and/or public transportation
- Additional needs include US Sponsorship for relatives still in limbo in Europe and Ukraine.
Please feel free to post and share this as an opportunity to help someone in need. I cannot imagine being displaced from everything and everyone I know without an understanding of what the future holds.
Thank you for your thoughtful donations!
Organizer
Lainey Nakhleh
Organizer
Dallas, TX