On August 22nd the Burlaka family came to Bridgewater New Jersey, from Sumy, Ukraine. They have come here to escape the war in their country and give their daughters a chance for a normal life again. They arrived with just their suitcases, clothes, a few possessions and no money. They spent nerly all of their life savings to pay for airline tickets to get here.
About Them
The Burlaka family includes Liza, the Mother and twin 13-year-old daughters, Yeva and Sofiia. Unfortunately, the husband, Alexander had to remain in Ukraine, as all men are required to stay and fight the Russians. Before the war, they worked very hard to make a good life for their family. Liza and Alexander met as children; both went to the university and then got married. Alexander opened several businesses but was always a great tennis player. A few years ago, he was offered a position as a head tennis instructor, so he took the leap to have his profession also be his passion. Liza has been a teacher for younger children for many years and loves what she does. They have twin girls, Yeva & Sofiia, who love to play tennis with their father. Both are very artistic and great at baking. Liza and Alexander worked hard and saved, and made smart financial decisions for their family. They purchased a nice apartment (most people in Ukraine live in apartments) and fully paid it off. Then they purchased a second apartment to use as a rental income. They went on nice vacations as a family and felt that their hard work had paid off with a great life in a city that they loved.
(The above photos are from their home in Sumy)
The War
They lived in Sumy, which is only 30km from Russia. On the very first day of the war, they woke up to see tanks rolling down the road outside of their home. They were the first city taken and were under Russian occupation for two months. You may have seen on the news the war crimes that were committed against civilians during this time there. It is too painful for them to talk about that time right now, they have only said that it was hell. They stayed throughout that time in their home with constant shelling and the noise of rockets flying over their heads. At one point, a humanitarian corridor was opened for thousands of people to WALK in the snow with their belongings to safety, but they had heard people were still being shelled along this route (true) so they stayed at home. The rental property was then bombed and destroyed. Both here and in the USA, if your home is destroyed in the war, insurance will not pay out, so this investment is a total loss. Even after Russia was pushed out of their town, at least two air raid sirens would go off every day, and you had to quickly run to a shelter. This was often in the middle of the night and multiple times to prevent people from sleeping. Through all of this, they did not want to leave Alexander behind but eventually, the fear of their children being harmed and the torture of constant air raid sirens made them decide it was time to leave. But for the past 6 months they have barely had an income, their rental house was destroyed and their current home is worthless as no one will buy in a war zone. Also, their money has tanked in value due to the war, with it being 37 of their money to one us dollar. This means what's left of their savings is worth next to nothing.
Coming to the USA
In July, the United for Ukraine program, through the government, opened its website to Ukrainians looking for Americans to help them come to our country as refugees. Our family, the Bitners, had signed up with the site. Many families contacted us on the first day, but the Burlakas stood out to us. Christy is a teacher like Liza; we have twin boys that are in 7th grade just like their twin girls, and both Justin and Alexander are entrepreneurs. So they are our Ukrainian doppelgangers! We talked on chat for a week and decided to invite them to come live with us! Since then, we have been chatting over zoom and in WeChat all day, every day. We feel as though we have been friends forever now and that they are part of our family, so we wanted to do whatever we could to help them! A very difficult part of this process is that not only is Liza having to start her life over completely from scratch, after working so hard to get to a comfortable place in life, but now she has to do it like a single mother since Alexander has to stay in Ukraine, for the foreseeable future at least.
Our Plan Forward
Liza has applied for her working papers through the government, and when she receives them, she plans to get a job here as a teacher. We have converted her university degree to English, and she is studying for the praxis test (New Jersey's teacher exam). Once she passes, we hope to get her a job in Bridgewater schools or with Christy in Branchburg to make commuting easy. The only negative is the work papers can take several months to receive. While living with us, any money they receive or make from working is to be saved to help support themselves once they move out or to cover small expenses. We are paying for their food, providing free housing and transportation, and adding them to our cell phone plan, so they have unlimited calling back to Ukraine. We hope that in around 6 months, Liza will have a decent job as a teacher and saved enough to feel safe with moving out to an apartment so that their family can begin their journey here.
What They Need
1. Of course, they need funds; their money is almost worthless here, so they are completely starting life over. Any financial support people can provide, will go a long way for them. Even though the Bitners are paying for much of their living expenses, there are costs everywhere! We applied for Liza's working papers with the government yesterday, and they charged her $410! This was an unforeseen cost and I am sure there will be many more.
2. We are looking for 3 women's used bikes - They would like to be able to bike to nearby stores and also for enjoyment. Also, there is a tennis court in a park within biking distance the girls would like to ride to in their free time.
3. Sofiia has braces. We all know how expensive that is. If you are an orthodontist willing to do her tightenings monthly, we would love to hear from you. She ALREADY has braces from Ukraine, so its not a thing we are choosing to do; we HAVE to find a solution to have her seen monthly, and they do not have the funds for this. We have applied to the AAOF, Rugters dental school and many other places, so far without luck.
4. Thank you for the clothing offers, but we currently don't need clothes EXCEPT for a girls winter jacket and winter boots for Sofiia. We have already received so many clothes that will be suitable for a while!
5. Drones used or new, NEW wool socks, NEW thermal underwear. Every month we plan to mail a box back to Ukraine for Alexander. In it, we plan to include artwork from the girls for their dad. I have asked him many times what I can send him, and in taking care of his family, that's all he could ask for. But the military desperately needs warm clothing for the soldiers as winter is approaching and they are out in the snow and cold. Also, any drones that are not "toys" that you are willing to donate would be awesome. They use them to scout ahead safe routes or to identify where the enemy is on the battlefield. We support Ukraine in their fight against an invader, so drones are a legal thing we can send to help!
6. Legal help - If the war ends soon, they will return to Ukraine, but this most likely will not happen. In this case, they want to have Alexander move here when he is allowed and live here permanently. For this, we need to seek asylum for them, and we would love to talk to a free immigration attorney for advice on this. We want to get this started immediately, as we know it can take a long time.
7. If you would like to drop off gift cards or other items in person, Liza would love to meet you! Currently, we are not accepting furniture and other household items as it will be a while before they move out, and we don't have room to store them. (we are giving her our couch as we are buying a new one but honestly, we don't know where we will store it till then)They have brought nice backpacks with them for school and we have all the school supplies they will need for them.
8. Teacher position - If you are with a school district that would be interested in hiring an experienced teacher (preschool / grade school) and have any options for hiring her before the praxis is passed, please let us know. She wants to get working asap (at a wage she can support her kids at, aides and substitute positions honestly just don't pay enough to live in NJ in a one-income household.)
We would like to note that this fundraiser will go directly to Liza's TD bank account, to which she only has access. All donations of all kinds go directly to her for her family. They do not pay rent or any other money to us. We just care about them very much and are trying to set them up for success in their new life here in the USA!
