A life of service abroad inspires sponsorship at home
Before the war started, Nataliia, Nick, and their two children lived safely in their apartment in Kryvyi Rih, a city in central Ukraine, east of the Dnipro river. Nataliia was working as a nurse, and Nick worked in construction.
When the war began, the Russian troops were stationed very close to their home.
“The Russians stationed about ten kilometers from where we lived. It was very close and we heard fights,” Nataliia said. “We felt very scared, and we didn't quite know what to do. We were so worried about our kids.”
As the months passed, the attacks continued, and they saw their city turn to ruins. “That was hard emotionally and mentally. [The Russians] started sending drones, so we heard a lot of explosions and the whole ground was vibrating,” she said.
The situation continued to get worse. The family was hiding in bomb shelters, living through terrifying sleepless nights, and then, their town’s electric plant was destroyed. They had no electricity, heating, or water, and the water that was available was unsafe to drink. Nataliia became pregnant shortly after the war began, and as conditions became more unsafe and unbearable, they knew they had to leave.
“The first winter that we spent [there] was very hard. I cannot even put in words how hard it was,” Nataliia said.
At the onset of the war, Nick had researched options to get his family out of Ukraine. They attempted to apply for visas in Canada, but Nataliia’s was not approved. Shortly after their third child was born, they discovered the Uniting For Ukraine program and Welcome Connect. They were able to successfully register on the platform after just one attempt.
As the couple worked to connect with sponsors, the conditions in Ukraine continued to fluctuate, and the family needed stability. This is when they met Mary who, through her messages over the course of just a few days, offered them hope. “We could see that her true intention was to help… she felt so confident that her confidence was contagious. We started to trust her,” Nataliia said.
Mary has lived a life rooted in service. From working in clinics in Haiti to installing filtration systems for clean drinking water in Honduras, she has always been passionate about helping others.
“I’ve always been very interested in helping people, especially in other countries besides the United States,” Mary said.
After years of service abroad and watching conditions worsen internationally, Mary began to search for opportunities to support humanitarian efforts in the U.S.
Mary thought to herself, “Well, let's get going, doing something about this… we heard about all of the pressure at the southern border and the need to bring refugees and others deeper into the country, into smaller towns where people were welcoming them.”
Mary knew that her town in Michigan could provide a welcoming environment to Ukrainian newcomers. Recently, one of Mary’s friends had sponsored a Ukrainian family who was now employed and settled into their community in Marquette. Seeing this successful sponsorship experience in her own town gave Mary the confidence that she needed to sponsor. She created a profile on Welcome Connect, and soon connected with Nataliia and Nick in January 2024.
We in the United States have more—much, much, much, much more than we need—and to share our wealth and our time and our resources with people who are in a war zone or starving, it's a no brainer to do that.
Mary felt called to sponsor the family of five. She said the most memorable part of their early communication was when the couple shared pictures of their 1-year-old baby. Mary said she put herself in the couple’s shoes and imagined what it must have felt like to be in their position, hoping for a pathway to safety for years.
With the hope of sponsorship becoming a reality, the couple prepared for their journey to the U.S. A month after Mary officially applied to sponsor the family, they received approval to travel.
As Mary prepared for the family’s arrival, she leaned on her community for support. A local Lutheran church, the Crossroads Community Fellowship Church, supported the family by providing housing in an extra space that they had in their building. They created a three-bedroom apartment in one of their wings, while Mary and a group of community volunteers filled it with furniture and dishes.
The group set up a fundraiser for the family and raised several thous by Welcome.US through a partnership with Amex GBT that covers airfare for eligible newcomers. She said that the process to apply for the airfare, “was totally seamless,” adding that receiving these flights will have a lasting impact on the family. The $4,000 dollars that Mary would have spent on flights was now applied to other necessary purchases to support the family.
“It was like a gift to us,” Mary said.
The family arrived in the U.S. in April 2024. Nick now has a full-time job, and the couple’s older children are going to school, making friends, and learning to speak English. Nataliia is staying home to take care of their youngest child while taking English classes, hoping to eventually return to her profession as a nurse.
The couple also was able to purchase a car and plans to eventually move out of the church apartment and find a home of their own in town. Mary has been helping the couple connect with the community through ESL classes and visiting the local farmers markets.
It is so moving to see how people sincerely want to help. It's not only Mary, because there is a team behind her... seeing their compassion, they really accomplished great things with no strings attached, with an open heart. They help us with sharing their knowledge, and to just participate in our new start.
Nick and Nataliia still have many friends and family in Ukraine, and they think about all of those who want to leave the country for safety, but cannot. They hope that the war will end soon, and that Ukraine will again find stability.
“Our hope, our main hope, is for our kids, that they will get a decent life, and they will grow up in peace,” Nick said.
Mary shared that the experience of sponsoring a family from Ukraine has been wonderful.She said that sponsoring the family has been an incredible experience, and that she’s thankful for the Welcome Connect platform, which made it all possible.
“We are just so happy that there is such an organization that makes the process so much easier,” she said.
More stories of welcome
