There are no words to describe what’s happening in Ukraine right now. Given that I was born in Ukraine, I knew I wanted to do something in support of Ukrainians, but I didn’t quite know exactly what.
It became clear to me when a childhood friend contacted me a couple of weeks ago and asked if I could help host his 14-year-old son and his mom. While I could most definitely do that, I realized that given our community at NET, we can help many more families.
1. Sponsoring refugee families. After I spent a few days researching, a client and friend of mine told me about the Canadian Ukrainian Immigrant Aid Society (CUIAS). They are exactly what I was looking for. You can read about CUIAS's services and support here; the basic idea is that CUIAS helps bring the families over, finds accommodations for them, and offers free English classes, childcare, and other services.
They told me that they already have a list of women with children coming here as soon as early April, who have no support whatsoever and will be needing help. My hope is to find them corporate sponsors who will commit to paying for their rent and basic needs (around $2-3,000 a month, depending on the size of the family) for 6 months.
If you hold an executive position at a company that can financially support a family, or you know of corporations that might be interested, please reach out to me directly and I will connect you with CUIAS so your company can explore this possibility. Perhaps your company could co-sponsor a family along with another company. Anything helps; there is a true urgency here.
All donors will receive charitable donation tax recipients, and 100% of your money will go directly to the specific family your organization sponsors.
2. Donate items to refugee families. There are other ways to help these families, like with furniture, clothing, electronics, and more. We have created this Google Form where you can leave your name, your phone number, and the items or services you have to offer. We will reach out to you once we identify the needs of specific families.
3. Personal donations. If you just want to help on a personal level, you can donate as much as you can afford to CUIAS here. In a comment, please indicate it is for "NET for Ukraine 2022."
You will receive a charitable donation tax receipt for this, as well, and nearly 100% of your money will go to specific families under this program.
I couldn’t be more proud of the amazing community at NET of some of the best people I have ever met! Connecting with you on a personal level is one of the main reasons I love going to work every day. Together, we can make a big difference to so many Ukrainian women and children who desperately need our help right now.
Canada has given me so much. I am forever grateful to this amazing country! I have lived in different cultures throughout my life, and Canadians are by far some of the best people in the world. I have felt like a proud Canadian for well over 20 years now. For the past 5 weeks, for the first time in all these years, I feel like being a proud Ukrainian again.
Glory to Ukraine!
We deeply appreciate any support you can offer.
Sincerely,
Andrei
Update: We just got word of the first family we hope to sponsor, the Khytsenko family. They are from Bucha, a city in northeast Ukraine that was the site of mass civilian killings. Here is their story:
We arrived yesterday in Toronto (April 2nd, 2022) looking for a new start. My family of four came from Ukraine to Canada, hoping that we could have more opportunities here and get away from the war. My wife Ksenya is from Sevastopol (Crimea), and I am from the Sumy Oblast in Ukraine. We both were alone from the very start and had no one to support us because we were both orphans. One summer, we met each other at a summer camp for orphans in Ukraine which was organized by the Canadian NGO. We both fell in love and soon after had a family. With the help of Canadian and American donors, Ksenya got into university and got a degree, and I also got a degree and began my career in business. We started our life from scratch. For the next couple of years, we were able to purchase our own home and start to collect money for down payment. Our apartment in Vynogradiv, Bucha region, was small, but was very cozy and fit our family of four. Our two children, Uliana who is six, and Ivan who is nine, are very special to us and we spend most of our time with them. Ivan has been diagnosed with the autism – level 3 (highest range), and Ksenya is dedicating all her time to support his needs. The society in Ukraine isn’t ready to accept children with autism as integral part of the population, that is why we did our best to teach him all life skills that he needs in his life.
Early in the morning on February 24th, we woke up to the sounds of bombs. Ivan went to the window, and we all saw Russian jets flying over our town. The bombs fell, buildings collapsed, and our hometown was left in ruins. We decided then and there that we had to leave immediately. We had barely enough time to pack our items, so we only left with two suitcases. We got into our car and started to drive to the west of Ukraine. Many people were fleeing, and some of the roads were demolished by the attacks. We were stuck in traffic for multiple hours and didn’t have anything to eat. It was very hard to find a hotel or even a place to sleep the night at. We got lucky to find some of our old friends who hosted us for a week at their home. We brainstormed our options and decided to connect with one of the volunteers with whom we were in contact during our student time in the summer camp for orphans who was helping with donor communication and located in Toronto, Canada, and ask her for her help in Canada. She graciously agreed to help and provided all information about Canada. She hosted us in her home and now we are in search of our place here, in Canada.
We do understand that we will not be able to come back to Ukraine as our house has been fully destroyed. We came with two bags to Canada and ready to start our life from scratch again here in Canada. We would like to thank all Canadians and Ukrainians who made our trip possible.