From Ukraine to Questa
Father, son from Zalistsi resettle in Northern New Mexico while they await their matriarch
Chip and Lidia Taylor were ready to stay and fight the Russian army. On their small farm in Zalistsi, Ukraine, the couple had developed a good life for themselves over the course of 15 years. As the Russian invasion drew closer to their home, they realized a different path lay ahead, but the decision to follow it wasn’t easy.
With their 7-year-old son Danny in mind, the couple talked it over and decided that Chip, who was born in Alabama and has a U.S. passport, would take Danny, who is also legally a U.S. citizen, and flee Ukraine as quickly as possible.
After a message to Taylor from the U.S. embassy on Feb. 11, the family had finalized their plans, and on Feb. 19, father and son officially crossed the border into Poland. Even though they fled before Russian troops invaded on Feb. 24, they still faced plenty of challenges on their way out of the country.
The journey out
When they decided to leave the country, nothing was certain. Taylor, 60, and Danny left after a text message from the U.S. embassy warning them to get out prompted them to act quickly.
“I was on the fence about staying or leaving, and I had been that way for months,” Taylor said. Once the message from a state department friend came
through, however, the family knew it was serious. “I got a message from a U.S. state official that said ‘You’ve got 24 hours to get out,’” he said. Taylor had worked with U.S. soldiers in the past helping them deal with PTSD and substance abuse disorders, and so he had been identified as a citizen the U.S. would prioritize for evacuation.
Chip and Lidia had spent the past decade building a rehabilitation and detox center funded by their family farm. The farm, located in the town of Zalistsi, focused on growing Mexican and Southwestern produce. As a pastor and addiction treatment mentor, Taylor had initially come to Ukraine to help sects of the Russian Orthodox Church establish addiction treatment centers.
Shortly after, his work switched to helping Ukrainian military members and American expats with trauma from war and drug counseling.
It was this work that helped Taylor and his family escape the country, but it wasn’t an easy decision. “I thought, ‘If I go, we’ve got 5,000 square feet of greenhouses; we’ve got a whole lot of infrastructure set up to run our operation. There’s been maybe $200,000 involved over the years building [the farm] so that I could treat these patients,” he said.
Even after taking all of those factors into consideration, the couple decided the best decision was for Taylor to leave as soon as possible, with Danny in tow.
As he and Danny worked their way through various checkpoints, the validity of Danny’s passport was questioned. “The driver [who took us to the border] said ‘If you have any issues, call me.’” Taylor did.
After being stopped several times — each time making a call to his courier — Taylor and Danny were eventually let through into Poland, and found themselves in the city of Przem´sl.
Just two days later, they arrived in the U.S., but it took over a week before they found a place to stay in Questa with one of Taylor’s old friends. Taylor had previously lived in Phoenix, Ariz., and spent time in the Southwest prior to his move to Ukraine.
What they left behind
While Taylor and Danny left Ukraine, Lidia Taylor, 49, said she would stay at the farm, providing a refuge for others attempting to escape from the war — ideally using the land as a passageway for those on their way to the border.
“As much as I hated it, we agreed that she would stay and she would funnel refugees to the border,” Taylor said.
“I just didn’t want to leave everything as it was,” said Lidia Taylor from a Facebook call in Warsaw on Monday (March 14). “We had some animals; we had a horse, a few goats, cats and dogs — and I felt a responsibility. I couldn’t just leave everything and flee, so I decided to stay.”
Taylor also has other children from a former marriage to watch out for as well. “My elder kids are in Ukraine,” she said. “They’re adults, and they take responsibility for their lives and well-being, but still, I was worried. I wanted to make sure they made it to safety.”
When the couple made the decision that Chip and Danny should flee, the war had not fully broken out yet. “But there was a danger,” she said.
“I thought I might be of some use for Ukraine and the Ukrainians,” Taylor said of her decision to stay.
She decided to turn the farm into a full-time home for Ukrainian refugees looking for safe passage, until she was ready to leave the property in the hands of her daughter this month. “When my daughter and her family came to the farm and they settled down, I realized she could do the same thing I had been doing, and so I decided it was time to reunite with my family,” Taylor said of her decision to leave Zalistsi.
Leaving entailed registering for a bus ride to Poland. “When places were available, they just called me and told me the date and I got on the bus,” she said. The ride took 24 hours, with a long stop at the border due to a growing queue of refugees.
Taylor crossed the border without any problems, and said Polish officials had done an excellent job helping her and other refugees escape the war. “They organized great help to all the Ukrainians coming there. They fed the refugees, and provided some basic toiletries, hygienic products, clothes, toys for kids — everything.”
People are so great here. I’m really amazed at their hospitality and kindness,” she said.
As of Monday (March 14), Taylor was staying with a friend in Poland as she awaited a flight to the U.S. and then a drive to Questa to be reunited with her husband and son.
Starting over
With beds for 10 people and a lease of 25 years, the Taylor family was ready to make Zalistsi their home, creating a rehabilitation center funded by proceeds from the salsa and Mexican food the couple sold from their farm.
While he awaits his wife’s arrival, Taylor has been thinking of ways to get back into the drug treatment and farming business. However, they seem to have found themselves in the right place in Questa. When it comes to their organic farming background, they are not too far from home when it comes to rural Northern New Mexico.
Taylor said he has plans to start up an operation based on the model he had established in Ukraine, ideally finding a piece of land he can farm in order to fund a rehab business.
Getting to that point may not be so easy, though. “I need a job, I need a place to stay, I need a car, I need a little bit of cash to make it all work,” Taylor said. “We got here, and we had no money, no clothes — nothing.” As for his wife, “She’s got a 30-day tourist visa, then we have to figure it out from there.”
The Taylors hope their background in organic farming and community drug and alcohol treatment will come in handy when finding permanent housing and employment in Taos County.
“We’re trying to set all that into motion,” Taylor said.