Ukrainian family arrives in U.S., heads to new home near Toledo
With a ROMULUS, MICH. — Toledo Helps Ukraine sign, a small Ukrainian flag, and a warm heart, Becky and Wayne Johnson navigated the airport on Sunday in anticipation for the first Ukrainian family to be resettled to the Toledo area through a special program.
Inside the Detroit Metropolitan-Wayne County Airport, eyes were fixed on the international arrivals sliding door, for about an hour, before husbandand-wife Vasyl Biichuk, 49, and Oksana Biichuk, 48, slid through and into open arms, embraced with giant bear hugs and laughter.
After cleaning out their home in Rossford and researching the cultural norms of Ukraine the Johnsons felt ready as they would ever be to serve as a host family for the couple coming from Mykolaiv, on the eastern side of Ukraine.
Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24.
Biichuk expressed his bittersweet feelings and said that he was, “very happy” to be in the United States, “but simultaneously sad that we had to leave our country.”
In addition to leaving the country and the land that he farmed for decades, Biichuk leaves behind a son, daughter-in-law, and a grandson, whose applications were processed separately from and Biichuk.
Regardless, the two are happy to be safe, and Biichuk said, “all of this time since the war started,” they had been trying to get their family to safety.
Luckily, “Some of our relatives somehow find out about Toledo Helps Ukraine [now 4U] and then they told us to reach out,” Biichuk said.
On the other side of Atlantic, Johnson recalled how this whole exchange began with the founder of 4UA, Alona Matchenko, about two months earlier.
“Alona came to our church, and she did a presentation,” said Johnson, 80.
Motivated by their faith and desire to help Ukrainians, the Johnsons sought out Matchenko who worked with them through the process.
There were “a lot of questions about us, but I think the big one was, we had to show them that we had sufficient income to support them,” Johnson said in the middle of the terminal.
What followed was some heavy paperwork, a twoweek waiting period and some fingers crossed before the go-ahead was granted in conjunction with the U.S. government program, United for Ukraine.
“Now ask me how much Ukrainian I know?” Johnson, 77, said in displaying that he was not at all deterred by the language barrier.
More than expertise, Matchenko expressed what was most useful for helping Ukrainians at this time was a willingness to learn, grow, and help.
It’s a position, similar to a social worker, Matchenko said, clarifying the sponsorship role, which is one of the main barriers to getting Ukrainians into the United States.
“Usually takes 60 to 90 days,” Matchenko said.
During that time, the Johnsons will be on hand to help fill out government forms, assist with transportation issues, and help them get jobs among other tasks.
“The main thing is to sign the invitation form for them to legally come over,” Matchenko said.
A legal document, showing that an American is willing to help a specific Ukrainian, opens the door to resettlement.
In Matchenko’s words, “They only need the invitation to be rescued.”