Selfless act of sponsorship provides stability for two families

Rotary members are changing lives abroad and at home

Pursuing sponsorship just made sense to Heather Stoa. As a longtime member of Rotary International—a global organization whose members are united in creating lasting change in their communities—sponsorship offered an opportunity to bring the impact of their growing international service projects back home.

“This is a way for us to bring the international to Decatur, and for us to see how we directly impact people from another country,” Heather said.

Through sponsorship, the Rotary club in Decatur, Illinois, and their extended community, experienced firsthand the life-changing impact of offering hope and safety to people fleeing the war in Ukraine.

Since 1998, Heather has served in every official capacity as a Rotary member, including as district governor from 2021-2022. During her tenure, she was devoted to international service projects such as clean water projects in Kenya and Mexico, and economic development projects across the world, including in India. After Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, sponsorship became a chance to do more and see the results in their own community.

Heather introduced the idea of sponsorship to their club’s international committee in September 2022. After months of research and conversations, she created a profile on the Welcome Connect platform and presented the idea to the full club.

“I did a presentation to our club members in June [2023], and I told them at that point in time, I would not release our profile [on Welcome Connect] until we had a minimum of $15,000 committed to this project,” she said. “Before I left the meeting, we had $15,000.”

The group immediately received several sponsorship requests on Welcome Connect, the online platform created by Welcome.US to help match Americans interested in serving as sponsors with people seeking refuge from war and conflicts in Ukraine and other regions of the world. After connecting with and reviewing the profiles of five families, they decided to offer sponsorship to Alina Panashchenko, her 21-year-old daughter Diana, and her 13-year-old son Kirill, as well as Tetiana Yefanova and her 9-year-old daughter—all who had temporarily relocated to Germany. Heather said she knew it was the right match for their club, which was eager to support a large family.

The group officially extended sponsorship in August of 2023, and by March of 2024, Heather and members of the Rotary Club welcomed the two families to Decatur, Illinois.

“What I'm most excited about is just meeting new friends, welcoming them to our community, providing hope for them for their future, giving them a place where they can learn, where they can heal, where they can thrive,” Heather said. “We just want the best for them.”

As single moms, Alina and Tetiana also wanted what was best for their children. They both lived good lives in Ukraine before the war. Alina was an accountant who shared a small house with her daughter and son just outside of Kharkiv. Tetiana worked hard to provide a stable life for her daughter.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February of 2022, Alina and her children hid in their basement during the day. At night, she would venture outside and hear the explosions. Her daughter, Diana, finally said, “That’s it, we need to leave.” Tetiana and her daughter, along with her sister and mother—a 12-year cancer survivor—also decided it was too dangerous to remain in Ukraine.

Both women and their families—who had not yet met—headed to Germany for refuge. Their journeys were difficult and scary.

“When we were driving to get my mom, it was a little bit outside of the town. We were confused. We saw the military everywhere. There were explosions everywhere. There were sirens all the time. We didn’t know what to expect,” Tetiana said. “That was a very, very stressful moment... We stayed everywhere we could. There were camps in schools and wherever people were able to take us for the night, because we couldn't drive at night during the martial hour. It took us five days to get to Poland, and then another day or two to get to Germany.”

Eventually, Alina, Tetiana, and their families made it to Germany where they stayed for nearly two years. The two mothers met while taking German language classes, and they connected over their shared challenges of adjusting to life in Germany.

“It was very difficult,” Alina said. “The mentality of Germans and Ukrainians is very different, and it was very difficult to adjust. It was especially hard to adjust for my son. He could not pass that barrier with the language.”

Both women knew that they needed to find a better option. Tetiana heard about sponsorship through a friend and, after a few months, she and Alina were both able to register and began connecting with several sponsors.

An initial sponsorship possibility soured, but when Alina connected with Heather on Welcome Connect, she was hopeful. Alina learned of Heather’s involvement with Rotary International, which helped to build trust between the three women. They felt comforted knowing that Heather was a part of a group looking to sponsor a large family.

“It was important that we were going together,” Tetiana shared. “If we weren't traveling there together, I don't know if I would actually go through with it and travel somewhere by myself with my kid, because it's a very scary journey.”

When Alina, Tetiana, and their children finally arrived in Decatur, they were amazed by the knowledge and preparation of Heather and the Rotary members. In addition to support through the Rotary club, Heather said two local churches—the First Presbyterian Church of Decatur and the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Decatur—offered in-kind donations such as furniture and supplies. She also connected with a local couple who helped Alina and Tetiana’s families with temporary housing through their Airbnb rental. The group also furnished the home and stocked up on supplies to support the newcomers as they got settled.

Alina and Tetiana are eagerly settling into their new lives. Alina hopes to take courses in accounting to find a job in her field, and both women are learning English so that they can find jobs and gain stability.

As the families adjust to their new community, Heather is aware that the transition can be challenging. “They have been through so much trauma, and I just worry how they will adapt and transition. I want them to be willing to ask if they need something,” she said. “I don't want to make assumptions about what they've been through or what they need.”

The women are happy and hopeful for their futures, but also saddened about leaving their family and former life behind.

Tetiana said her sister and mother remained in Germany. “It's very hard to be away from home. That's a big adjustment for me. I miss my home, my family,” she said.

Alina’s daughter decided to return to Ukraine with her boyfriend. “It's very worrying because there's still a lot happening. There's still bombs and attacks, and it's not stable. But that's what she chose to do,” Alina said.

Despite these challenges, Alina and Tetiana said their main focus remains providing a stable environment for their children. Already, Tetiana said she can see that her daughter is adjusting to her new community.

“She's already adjusting a lot better than in Germany. She has a few girls she plays with,” Tetiana said. “I see more encouragement from her to learn the language. She goes to the library and grabs a book, and she asks me to help translate the sentences from the book.”

Alina and Tetiana see sponsorship as a selfless act that comes from the heart.

“It has to be something that's in you. You are just selflessly empathetic toward others,” Tetiana said. “Heather is generally very empathetic and her husband is very supportive of her. And you can feel it. They're like a team, and they're very selfless in everything they do.”

The three women, who are now bonded by their strength and resilience, hope their story will encourage others to consider sponsorship.

“A number of years ago, I saw a billboard for Rotary in another town that had a picture of a [Rotary member], and it said, ‘I joined Rotary for business and fellowship. I stayed to change the world’, and I truly believe that that's what we're doing with this,” Heather said. “We are creating hope. We're working on peace. We're helping people have a future.”