On Feb. 24, 2022, Russia invaded Ukraine; just the most recent in a decade-long series of conflicts.
According to statsia.com, between Feb. 24, 2022 and Feb. 15, 2024, there have been more than 10,500 civilian casualties — 587 of them children — and nearly 20,000 injured civilians.
Countries across the world have accepted Ukrainian refugees, including the United States.
In February of 2023, a crowd packed the YMCA Test Kitchen to learn from Bob Bartles, of Burlington, about the possibility of sponsoring Ukrainian families to travel to Fort Madison to live and work and become part of the community.
For a family from Kiev, that’s more than 5,200 miles.
Linda and Rick Larkin are sponsors, along with Linda Smith, Matt and Beth Mohrfeld, Kirsten and Joel Bobb, Jim and Krys Plate.
Larkin said Bill and Monica Schulte are in the process of sponsoring a family.
There is a big need for sponsors in Fort Madison right now, Larkin said.
“There’s 10 families in Ukraine right now that want to come to the southeast Iowa area but we need sponsors,” she said.
Larkin said she would be willing to help people who are interested in becoming sponsors. There’s a lot of paperwork to be done.
“It’s not intuitive,” she said. “You fill out all the paperwork and then you sit back and wait. And you also have to pick a family. And then that family is vetted on the other end. And it’s each individual person. So if you have a 2, 3, 4, and 5-year-old, if the 2-year-old doesn’t get vetted for one reason or another, the whole family’s not going to come.
These families, Larkin said, just want to be independent.
“They want to get a job,” she said. “And every one of the families that are here now are working. They’re hard workers, they’re just amazing people. I just wish that we could have more people show an interest in doing it (sponsoring).
Larkin applied in February of 2023, and the family she sponsored — Natalie Karpyshyn and her son, Max — didn’t get approved until the end of July.
“I knew she was coming. I kind of picked out an apartment not far from where I lived and the landlord was very helpful to work and hold it for me,” she said. “But I was in Florida on vacation with my family when I found out about it, that Natalie got approved, and then I got sick with COVID. “
Karpyshyn wanted to come before the start of school in August. Larkin was worried, since it was the last few days of July, that “this is going to be a crash and burn.”
She didn’t know how she was going to get a whole apartment furnished and ready to go in that amount of time, with being stuck in isolation for 10 days.
Larkin reached out for help on Facebook.
“People donated chairs and tables and household goods and you name it. I was just overwhelmed,” she said. “And it made me so proud of our entire community. It was such a good feeling. People helped me clean, they helped me get things set up. When I went to Chicago to pick her up, somebody made a meal and had it ready so there would be food for her when she got here. It was just a great experience and it’s continued to be a great experience in helping her navigate the system. Because there’s so many systems out there that they need to know.”
Since she’s been through it all before, Larkin said, she would be a good and willing mentor to other people who might want to be a sponsor but is worried about taking those steps alone.
And she’s not the only one.
“I like to travel and when I was gone in January, February, March the other sponsors all stepped up and helped,” she said. “So we’re kind of a little community of our own and helping each other. It is a very worthwhile experience.”
One of the requirements of sponsorship is to have some financial resources just to be able to help the refugee family if needed.
“We were fortunate enough to be able to do that,” she said. “I think they ask you have at least $9,000. Natalie has never asked me for a dime.”
It’s not really a financial burden, Larkin said.
“It kind of sounds like it at first because you have to find them a place to live. Although there have been sponsors who have had families move in with them,” she said. “It’s very do-able. That would be fine. And then that family helps in figuring out their own place.”
There is a lot of support available, Larkin said, such as World Relief in the Quad Cities.
“[They] helped us try to navigate some of the systems that we didn’t know. They were very helpful with that,” she said. “So there are organizations out there that can help too. But I think the best support is the local support from people that you know.”
Larkin is worried about one Ukrainian family in particular right now, she said.
“They live in a border town that’s bombed all the time, and [the man] said his house has been damaged and he didn’t want to leave Ukraine but he’s afraid that one of his family members will be killed,” she said. “And I just don’t know what it’s like to live in that kind of fear every day.”
This is their story: Alexander Skoryk and his wife, Valentina, have a 14-year-old daughter, Taisia and a 9-year-old son, Kyrill. Alexander has a background in teaching and attended grad school before his studies were interrupted by the war. Valentina has two higher education degrees in law and economics. Taisia enjoys dance, Kyrill loves sports.
“But there is no such opportunity for my children yet because we are from Kharkiv City and mostly all sections are closed. Since we are from a front line city, we are very often shelled,” Alexander wrote. “I and my family since the beginning of the war did not go anywhere and did not leave my favorite city Kharkiv, but the circ*mstances have developed in such a way that we can no longer physically or morally withstand the constant air raid alert and shelling from the aggressor. My family cannot develop and live a full life because our house is damaged and my children are constantly hiding in the basem*nt during the shelling.”
Those who have questions or are interested in becoming a sponsor are welcome to email Larkin at iowawoman@gmail.com.
“These people are so hard working,” Larkin said, “and just want to have a better life for their family.”
