My name is Alina, and my 11 year old daughter, Maiia, and I arrived in New York City on March 14, 2022. On the first day of the war in Ukraine, February 24, 2022, we were forced to leave our home in Kyiv. First, we escaped to Poland, where we lived for 2 weeks. We were scared that the invasion would continue further into Europe.

Since we had United States visas, we made the decision to come to New York. My parents and the father of my daughter remain in Kyiv. For 6 months, we lived at my friend’s apartment in Astoria. We didn’t have our own bedroom, and we were living in the kitchen area. In August, my friend’s sister and her two children were coming to stay with her, so I was urgently looking for housing.

I reached out to the Ukrainian Habitat Fund for help. They were able to find me and provided me with an apartment on the Upper East Side near my daughters school and changed our lives.

Now Maiia loves attending school. She enjoys reading and well as painting (photo of one of her work she painted for the Fund.)

Ana has found employment in fashion industry.