MEET oksana
"When we no longer had the opportunity to sleep and live in peace; under the sound of terrible sirens, we were forced to hide in the basement with our children until after a while even hiding became unsafe and inhumane. For the sake of our daughter, we decided to leave our home & country in search of a better living situation.” We are truly grateful for the Ukrainian Habitat Fund which provided us a safe housing haven that we now call Home in NY. With the generous help of UHF and its supporters to provide a roof over our heads for a year, we can acclimate more with ease to the new country, culture and society. Thank You Ukrainian Habitat Fund, we will forever be grateful for all your help and support to families like ours in this crucial time.
My name is Oksana, I work as a kindergarten teacher. I chose my profession because I like to communicate with people, especially with children, because they are always sincere and direct. I truly enjoy my profession as it is very rewarding to work with the young ones and foster their development and growth. Together with my family (my husband and our 6-year-old daughter) I lived in the Western part of Ukraine, in a small, picturesque town called Chortkiv. Until February 24, we lived a happy and peaceful life and never thought of leaving our beautiful town, but a terrible war came to our country….
On June 11 at 9:30 pm, 4 large rockets hit our small town, we realized that wherever we hid, it would not be safe. We were at home at that moment and heard a terrible roar from a rocket over our apartment building, the whole building shook and I thought it was the end… The missiles aimed at houses less than 600 meters away from us causing all the windows to shatter in our building, my daughter and I were shocked and terrified. We haven't slept all night because of the experience, and Anastasia still wakes up at night and shakes every time she hears a siren or an airplane.
It is very hard to leave my husband and my town but for the sake of our daughter’s safety, we decided to leave home and we would appreciate any help we can get while we adjust in the new country and make a living while we wait for the better times ahead. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank all for your support and generosity.