meet ivanka
Due to the war in Ukraine, along with my daughter Liza, we escaped to Poland as refugees initially, following on February 28 we flew to the United States to look for the shelter. My daughter Elizabeth was admitted to study in St. George Catholic school in Manhattan even though the school is private, she were kindly accepted. I worked as a cosmetologist in Ukraine, and my daughter studied at school in the 10th grade when the War suddenly began. My older daughter, who graduated from Medical University this year is currently living in Ukraine with her newborn baby, she wasn't able to escape and we are worried about their safety everyday as situation remains the same.
We are grateful for everyone's involvement in supporting and helping us settling and acclimating in NYC. Supporting UHF means supporting families like ours during such a horrific time.
A Thank You note from the Beneficiary:
We are beyond grateful to the Ukrainian Habitat Fund who has provided for us a full year of fully furnished apartment near my daughter’s school for located on E 10th & 2nd Ave, a heart of Ukrainian Village in Manhattan. With a generosity of a landlord and the UHF fund housing assistance, we can focus on starting a new life here in the USA as we are starting over since we left everything behind in our homeland due to ongoing War. United Habitat Fund members continued to follow up with us in assisting on providing us with additional help post us settling in providing guidance with employment opportunities, complimentary english classes and summer camp options.
Thank You Ukrainian Habitat Fund for you charitable and generous contribution! We are very lucky to have this organization's ongoing support!
“"Every time I heard sounds in the sky I got scared because I felt like something was going to fly into the house. I had panic and fear for the future. In the first days it was especially scary because there was no help, I watched the president's address in which he said that we were left alone with an enemy who is more for us and stronger.
On the fourth day of the war, I had a panic attack. And my mother decided that I had to leave before it was too late. Dad drove us under the border, while he drove back home to defend the country. My mother and I walked the rest of the way. But at the border we saw a lot of people, we stood for 6 hours in one place. People were crying and begging to be let in, but people were almost not allowed. Only a car could quickly cross the border to Poland. There were about five thousand people in line. When we were standing there it was zero degrees Celsius outside and there were babies crying behind us, I knew it was cold outside and babies wouldn't last long, especially little newborn babies in their parents' arms.They couldn't get out of the line because of the number of people. Then I decided to help, I picked up a heavy suitcase and started yelling "there are children let the children through" people who were in the front and did not see us, heard me and so we made a corridor to let the little children out in front.
It took us 12 hours to get across the border. There were many volunteers in Poland who fed us, warmed us up, and took us to the capital Warsaw for free. From there we flew to the United States. In the U.S. we stayed with people we knew. I was admitted to a Ukrainian school, for which I am very grateful to the school principal Andriy Stasiv. Ukraine is my home and will always be so. I love my country very much. I was born there, I spent my childhood there and my relatives are there who I love very much. In my opinion, courage is when a person is ready to go all the way, despite the danger.
Ukrainians are very courageous people, they are ready to defend their home, their land to the last drop of blood. You've probably seen videos of people throwing themselves on tanks just to protect their families and their land. This has always been the case, Ukrainians never surrender and believe in our victory to the last. Without help from the world, Ukraine would not have lasted this long. Because we are a peaceful country, we have never attacked first, and therefore we have few weapons. It is very difficult for all of us and we are very grateful to the countries that help us, they save many lives. Ukraine is a very beautiful and nature-rich country, and without Ukraine, the world could face starvation. My heart hurts for my country, I'm very worried about the people in Ukraine
We really want to go home, we want a peaceful life without fear and pain, and without the support of peace, I and many refugees from Ukraine will never go home. I am truly grateful to everyone who helps my country, thank you so much for making my dream come true, the dream of coming home."
By Elizabeth
