See July 25 update below
In the two-plus months since Russia’s brutal invasion of Ukraine forced Julia Oleksiichuk to flee her Kiev home in early May, she has come to embrace Canada, the hospitality of its citizens, and especially the love and support of the woman, Mildred Moy, who opened her Burnaby home to Julia and her 11-year-old son, Matvii Levytsky.
“I guess it’s like God connected us,” Oleksiichuk, 35, said in an interview. She explained that she has forged a strong bond with Moy because both her husband, Dmitrii Levytsky, and Moy are Christian street missionaries. The connection gives her comfort, Oleksiichuk said, and helps her cope with the fact that her husband had to stay in Ukraine to help with the war effort.
“I feel safe with Mildred,” she said, fighting in vain to hold back tears. “It’s like my sister, you know.”
“Yes, we’re like sisters,” said Moy, who is the founder of Catholic Street Missionaries and a member of St. Mary’s Parish in Vancouver. “And she is so pleasant to live with. She is very nice, very considerate, and she keeps the place so quiet, too.”
With the war now five months old, Russia’s attacks have continued to terrorize civilians, sparking an ongoing exodus of Ukrainians to safe havens around the world.
Every displaced Ukrainian arriving in Canada needs a home, and some Catholics in the Vancouver area have committed themselves to providing one or, at least, helping them find one. Those contacted by The B.C. Catholic say they end up receiving more than they give through their charity.
Julia and Matvii with Dmitrii before leaving Ukraine. (Contributed photo)
Government figures show why such charity is so important. Canada received 362,664 temporary-resident applications from Ukrainians between March 17 and July 5; less than half, or 151,353, have been processed.
Actual arrivals are fewer still. The Canada Border Services Agency reports that between Jan. 1 and July 3 58,869 Ukrainian citizens and Canadian permanent residents of Ukrainian origin arrived in Canada by land or air. With affordable housing at a premium in Canada, and with many of the displaced persons arriving with little money and fewer connections, their needs are great.
Deacon Pawlos Teckle, who works as a refugee advocate in the archdiocese’s Refugee Sponsorship Office, said he is not able to provide exact numbers, but he knows that many Catholic individuals and families from the Vancouver area have expressed a willingness to help Ukrainian families.
Deacon Teckle said most are matched with displaced persons who have registered with Holy Eucharist Ukrainian Catholic Cathedral in New Westminster, which has become a hub for assisting Ukrainians. (See earlier story: https://bccatholic.ca/news/catholic-van/from-war-to-welcome-parish-helps-ukrainians-adjust-to-their-new-land)
“We try to show love and care for the [displaced persons],” Deacon Teckle said. “And we do this through compassion and sharing our time or the resources that we have, such as money, furniture or accommodation.”
Elvira Mruchkovska, the Ukrainian Cathedral’s settlement coordinator, said in an interview that as of July 13 her office had placed 421 Ukrainian families in local homes.
“The number of host families or places to stay is small, and getting smaller, and the numbers of people, newcomers, every day is bigger,” Mruchkovska said. “So in this case, it is a really challenging moment for us, for sure.”
Her office has held three “pop-up” events to enable Ukrainian newcomers to access a variety of government services at one place and time. These services include registering for a Social Insurance Number and obtaining a Medical Services Plan card.
As well, on July 14, she held a Zoom meeting with newcomers to explain how they can access government support. The federal government is providing $3,000 per adult and $1,500 per child in “transitional financial assistance.”
Mruchkovska said Ottawa needs to do more to help private agencies. ”It’s a real challenge,” she said, explaining that her organization receives no government funding. “We need some more attention from government.”
She said she is thankful for the many Christian denominations that are assisting. “And it doesn’t matter what kind of churches – Catholic, Orthodox – they all of them are working really hard, and more intense, let’s say, than government resettlement agencies, without any penny from government,” she said. “It’s just by private donors, but not government support.”
Mruchkovska said the Christian volunteers with whom she works deserve special praise. “Gloria Lowe, of [St. Anthony’s Parish] in West Vancouver, is awesome, for example,” she said. “She is working really hard, without any payment, and they need recognition. Just a thank-you.”
Lowe said in an interview that she has helped find accommodation for three families. “It just makes me so happy to know that I can help,” she said. “It’s very, very satisfying. I guess you look and put yourself in their shoes, and then they are very grateful.
“I always say to them, ‘the Holy Spirit is working its way.’”
Lynn Whalen, a parishioner of St. Luke’s in Maple Ridge, said she was motivated to offer her home to a Ukrainian family after watching news reports about the war and seeing mothers with their children fleeing Ukraine.
“My immediate thought was, ‘What if that was my daughter and her children?’” Whalen said in an interview. “Then, I thought of the the Bible verse, ‘For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you made me welcome.’ It played over and over in my head.”
Whalen registered with a Langley-Maple Ridge group that organized a local resettlement program and on June 16 welcomed a Ukrainian woman from Kharkov and her 14-year-old son into her family home. The Ukrainians do not speak English, so they communicate through a smart-phone-app translator.
“We were told their stay with us is for three to six months, but we feel it could be longer,” Whalen said. “Our guests already feel like family. We are blessed with the opportunity to share our home with them.”
Moy feels the same. “When I saw the news of the war, it’s very terrifying,” she said. “I remember when the Syrians were persecuting the Christians, I wished to open my house to them, but there wasn’t a suitable match. This time, I really wanted to help.”
She said she grew up in the Metrotown-area home in which she is still living. “And the reason my sisters and I decided to keep this home is so I can use it for the glory of God,” she said. “So when I heard about the news of the Ukrainian war, I really said, ‘Oh, they’re coming? They’re leaving the country? They should come here. I should serve God in this way.”
And so she began praying. “I prayed to God, ‘Give me people. Give me good people that we can get along.’ And then I got Julia and Matvii. And then I found out that her husband does the same work as I do, and then I thought, this is really a match from God.” The match was made through the work of Mruchkovska’s agency.
“It’s just so nice to have her and Matvii,” Moy said. “Matvii, he is a joy. He keeps giggling. And he loves swimming. He loves nature and he loves to imitate the animal sounds.” Matvii agreed he likes to study nature and biology, but said he is sad that he forgot to bring his microscope with him. His mother said they left in such a hurry that she forgot to bring her glasses.
Oleksiichuk who was an event planner in Kiev, has now found work as a client-relations representative with CIBC. She is grateful for the job, and for all that Canada has done for her and her son, but her heart remains in Ukraine.
While she practised the Orthodox faith in Ukraine, Oleksiichuk is comfortable attending Roman Catholic services with Moy or Ukrainian Catholic services in New Westminster. “For me, church is about the people,” she said. “It doesn’t matter if it’s Orthodox, Catholic, you know. It’s the people. It’s being together and praying together.”
Canadians in general have been “open and welcoming,” she said. “It’s great people here.”
Her son raised his hand to ask permission to add his thoughts on the subject. “I very like the Canada school,” said Matvii, who was able to attend a public school in Burnaby for six weeks before summer vacation began, “because it’s very good teachers and classmates. And also I like people, yes – they’re very nice and very good.”
Before the war began, Oleksiichuk’s husband earned income as a sales manager. Today, he is using his car to deliver medical supplies and other material. “He had wanted to continue working so he could pay taxes to support the defence, but he ended up delivering,” Oleksiichuk said. “He had to stay. They had special legislation. All men should stay in Ukraine.”
Matvii said he is proud of his father and hoped to see him again soon. His mother readily agreed and said she wished to return home soon. “We had a great life there,” she said, pausing to wipe the tears from her eyes.
“The hope is that it is finished, the ‘situation,’ because it is very important to stay together – families to stay together, not separated, you know. Yes, I want to return. My heart is there.”
July 25 update
After this story appeared online an anonymous donor purchased a microscope for Matvii, who had forgotten to pack his when he and his mother fled Kiev.
St. Patrick’s concert raises funds for Ukrainian refugees
Several classical artists performed a Concert for Peace hosted by the Canadian Polish Congress at St Patrick’s Church in Vancouver June 18.
A cheque for $4,100, proceeds from the concert, went to the Barka Mutual Aid Foundation in Poland, which is supporting Ukrainian refugees. Barka and its sister organizations were founded on principles of Catholic social teaching in 1989.
