‘I can’t stop a war, but I can help a family’

Pennsylvania couple offers safety to Ukrainian family facing ‘constant fear’

Halyna Mykhalchuk was on the other side of the country on a business trip in February 2022—away from her children, husband, and parents—when a friend called to say that Russia invaded Ukraine. The following day, her boss confirmed her fears by sending an email to the staff announcing that everyone was to leave work to make arrangements for themselves and their families.

Halyna did what she could, even from a distance, to ensure her family was safe. Until that day, they were happily living in the Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine along the Russian border.

“The day I drove back to Kharkiv, there were hundreds and thousands of cars leaving the region,” Halyna said, recalling the surreal experience. “I was one of the very few cars that was driving there.”

Halyna and her family hid in the basement of their home while air raid sirens blared.

“After a while, you don’t understand what time it is,” Halyna said. “You don’t understand what day of the week it is. It’s just constant stress, constant fear, constant survival mode.”

After two to three weeks of hiding in their basement, the family decided to flee Kharkiv into Rivne, a city in western Ukraine just three hours from the border of Poland. For a time, the Mykhalchuks found some version of normalcy away from the intense fighting. In western Ukraine, stores remained open, and there were no daily air raids. The family sent supplies to Kharkiv and Dnipro where Halyna’s mom, in-laws, and their friends struggled to survive.

They stayed in Rivne for the summer, but as Ukrainian troops gained footing in Kharkiv and forced Russian troops to retreat, they returned to their home. When they arrived, Halyna did not recognize the city: anti-tank spikes appeared everywhere, and most buildings remained closed.

“It was a completely different world,” she said.

After nearly two years of war, Halyna and her family recognized the situation would not resolve as quickly as they had hoped.

“I had to make one of the hardest decisions to leave, knowing that my husband couldn't leave. I had to do that for the kids,” Halyna said. “They were studying online. They barely left or saw anyone. They didn’t hang out with friends. There were constant air-raid sirens, so they had to be in the basement or in the hallways. They were cooped up at that home, in all that stress and constant fear. They can’t just stop living.”

Shanya, a first-generation Ukrainian American whose parents immigrated to the United States after World War II, and her husband Matt knew they wanted to help when the war began.

Their son pointed them in the direction of a cultural and education center near their hometown of West Chester, Pennsylvania, that provided essential supplies to Ukrainians overseas. Shanya and Matt started volunteering for the center and packing boxes with food, clothing, and other necessities.

Still, they yearned to do more. Matt reached out to their local church and shared a list of needed items in addition to cash donations to support Ukrainians. The following week, after each mass, cars unloaded truckloads of donations. They gathered 110 moving boxes of food, clothing, and supplies, plus $30,000 in cash. Inspired by the outpouring of support, the couple hosted a second fundraiser in their neighborhood, yielding 30 more boxes of donations and $7,000 in cash.

Shanya and Matt also began exploring sponsorship. Initially, the timing wasn’t right, as the retired couple had just purchased a 100-year-old home that needed renovations. But in the fall of 2023, the couple felt it was time.

They registered on Welcome Connect, and after viewing many profiles, Halyna’s stood out to them. Halyna shared that 22 bombings had taken place in her city recently, and her 14-year-old son was losing his hair from the stress.

“One of the things that she wrote to me was, ‘We don’t run anymore. We just pray. We’ve run so far already,’” Matt shared.

The Kanes offered sponsorship to Halyna, her children, and her mother Natalia in January 2024, and the Mykhalchuks arrived in the United States four months later.

In the months leading up to their arrival, Shanya and Matt received support from their community in many unexpected ways. They shared the GoFundMe account they established for the family in their church’s newsletter and reached out to several other local churches, two of which actively supported the couple’s fundraising efforts. Matt also presented to the community’s local Rotary club and posted about their efforts on Facebook.

The couple planned to raise enough money to cover monthly rent for the family for their full two-year sponsorship in the U.S., totaling approximately $25,000. As of late July 2024, they have raised $40,000 in total, with donations continuing to pour in. Matt noted that at least 25% of the donations they received were made by total strangers.

“My forever memory of this will be of all the people, communities, groups, and individuals who have said, ‘How can we help?’” Matt said.

The Kanes also learned about the free flight program offered by Welcome.US in partnership with Amex GBT, a Welcome.US CEO Council member. The program offers free travel to sponsors matched with a beneficiary family of four or more on Welcome Connect. Welcome.US and its CEO Council are committed to overcoming barriers to private sponsorship and enable more Americans to become sponsors by directly connecting them with resources and services.

“This is a great example of travel as a force for good,” said Evan Konwiser, Chief Marketing & Strategy Officer at Amex GBT. “Americans are eager to support sponsorship in their communities, but can face financial and logistical barriers. This program helps sponsors access the support they need to welcome newcomer families.”

Matt and Shanya applied right away.

“This ability to save the money for the [newcomers] to not have to pay for travel is a big deal. It’s a lot of money,” Shanya said. “That was a real godsend.”

Halyna’s children are adjusting to their new schools, and her mother Natalia enjoys gardening with Shanya—the three women have become incredibly close.

As they settle into a new community, Halyna hopes to reunite with her husband.

“The main fear right now is for my husband because he’s still there,” Halyna said, adding that when they left Kharkiv, bombings continued and electricity and water were scarce.

Halyna shared that she is proud of herself for making sacrifices as a mother, wife, and daughter, and for doing what she had to do to protect her children. She expressed nothing but gratitude and appreciation for the sponsors she now considers her close friends.

“There are so many people in Ukraine who are in such horrible conditions, and their lives are completely destroyed,” she said. “The sponsors are literally their only hope and blessing. You are literally saving a life.”

Shanya, Matt, and their community will forever be impacted by the arrival of the Mykhalchuks.

“I can’t stop a war, but I can help a family,” Shanya said.

To that, Matt added, “We’re a couple of 70-year olds who live life. We want to keep living life, and I can’t think of a better way to do it—especially at a time when there’s so much need. If we could take a thousand families, I think we would, because that’s how much need there is."