Searching for safety, a family finds peace in Portland
After their family narrowly survived invasions and attacks in Kyiv, Liudmila and Mykhailo Horobynskyi, their children, and grandchildren escaped to the Czech Republic. Their daughter and grandchildren found a sponsor, which allowed them to safely resettled in Oregon, as Liudmila and Mykhailo awaited a sponsor of their own. Several connections fell through, primarily because of concerns about their age and the toll the challenges of starting a new life in a new country could potentially take on them.
Then, Liudmila and Mykhailo connected with Rebekka Bonner. Rebekka, an attorney in New York, immigrated to the United States from Cold War Germany as a young girl and understood the pain of separation from family during a crisis. As a child, her family members on the other side of the Berlin Wall struggled to access basic necessities.
When Rebekka learned about the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, she was flooded with the same feelings she had as a little girl. She had to help.
”I developed a very strong early view that I was pro-democracy and freedom and anti any kind of government that's against that,” she said.
Rebekka discovered the Welcome Connect platform and Welcome.US through a Google search.
“It was a fantastic site—everything that I needed to know, I learned just through that site,” she said.
Rebekka connected with Liudmila and Mykhailo on Welcome Connect and heard their story. The couple said, “by the grace of God” they made it through multiple ground invasions and attacks, including the infamous massacre in the nearby village of Moshchun, in Bucha, in March 2022.
In 2008, Liudmila and Mykhailo retired and relocated to Kyiv to live with their children and grandchildren. Mykhailo had worked as a chemical engineer for a big corporation in the Lugansk region for 36 years. He also helped in that region during the Chernobyl disaster. Liudmila was an economist for a corporation in Severodonetsk and worked as a general accountant for a water supply company.
When Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, Liudmila and Mykhailo received an urgent call from their son. The war had started, he said, and in 20 minutes, he encouraged his parents, sister, and her family to flee with him to the home he was building outside of Kyiv.
Although Russia publicly claimed they were only targeting and bombing the capital, the family found themselves in the midst of the war. The nearby Gostomel airport was the site of heavy fighting and military operations.
In their son’s house, the 12 family members hid together under the stairs, including four children—one of whom was just 2 years old. For two days, they stayed there with no electricity or cell service. With heightened stress and constant explosions, no one slept. They could hear Russian soldiers in the backyard and, at one point, were convinced that Russian forces had broken into the house.
They decided to leave Ukraine. The next morning, they drove out of the village through the forest, then along a highway that had been constantly under attack. A Ukrainian soldier said it was the only way out, and to “press the gas, and pray.”
When the family finally made it to the Czech Republic, they saw news footage of Russian tanks shooting into houses and at civilians just beyond the area they had escaped. The next day on that same highway, several cars were gunned down.
New challenges arose in the Czech Republic—with nearly all the rooms booked, they had nowhere to go. The family moved from one temporary location to the other. First, a friend’s connection opened up a temporary—but expensive—opportunity to stay at a hotel that was under construction. As more of their family arrived, another connection graciously welcomed 21 people to stay in their two-story home. But this, too, was temporary, and the refugee center didn’t have any available housing.
Finally, their daughter found community housing in a small town where they stayed for 14 months. The accommodations were tiny, including just one bathroom for several people.
Their son heard about the sponsorship program in Canada, and his family decided to move there. Their daughter discovered the Welcome Connect platform through the USCIS website, and she began searching for a sponsor. After several attempts, she found a sponsor in Oregon, and her family moved to the United States.
In October 2022, Liudmila and Mykhailo finally received emails that they, too, could register on Welcome Connect. About four months later, they connected with Rebekka as a sponsor, and by early March 2023, they were filling out the beneficiary paperwork.
After more than a year in search of safety and stability, the couple arrived in the United States in May 2023. “She’s just amazing,” Liudmila said of Rebekka. “We are so grateful, she’s just an amazing sponsor.”
The Horobynskyis shared with Rebekka that they wanted to reunite with their daughter in Oregon. Rebekka was happy to help them settle with their family in a picturesque suburb of Portland. Even though the Horobynskyis live across the country from Rebekka, they remain in contact, and Rebekka sends the family gifts for every holiday.
The family is happy to be back together and is living day by day. “The situation in Ukraine is so hard, and it’s unknown how or when it will end,” Liudmila said.
They are grateful to the U.S. government for providing Ukrainians with refuge from the war and for the Welcome Connect platform, which provided an opportunity for the family to be reunited and living in peace.
Rebekka, who is currently sponsoring a third family, encourages others to start their sponsor journey. “It'll massively enrich your life and massively enrich theirs,” she said.
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