Success Stories:

Dear friends and sponsors,

Here are some of the situations that Nechai Family Charity has been able to provide assistance:

In a small village in west-central Ukraine there lives a retired couple. She is 65 and he is 75. They both suffer from varicose veins and blood clots. Due to the cost of heating their house, for the winter, they are living in their 10’x12’ cook house with their 3 cats. Their combined pension is about $100 per month. They have no running water: their outhouse, and chicken coop, are attached to the cook house. When the electricity is out (which is up to 18 hours per day during the war), their well pump does not work, nor their electric heater. They must walk over 1 mile to a bus stop to get any food or supplies which, due to their health, is not a viable option. Despite these challenges, they are upbeat and proud of the fight that Ukraine is winning! Nechai Family Charity has visited them and left some money and aspirin (medicines in Ukraine are often not as potent as those available in USA). More importantly, they obtained contact information for their niece, who lives in Poland. Nechai Family Charity volunteers were able to contact the niece and found out that she worked in a hospital! She knew of her aunt’s medical problems, but had not been in contact for a few years and did not know how badly they had deteriorated. Obviously surprised by these messengers, she was grateful to hear this information and is making arrangements for a relative of hers, in Ukraine, to visit her aunt and uncle. We discussed how the likely best next step would be to have a doctor visit them in their home. The Nechai Family Charity remains in communication with the niece and stands ready to help as needed

In their (cook)house
The villiage

There are over 6 million Ukrainians that have temporarily fled to Poland. Nechai Family Charity volunteers recently visited one of these refugee families.

Mother, father, and 3 children reside in a government subsidized 2-room apartment. There are many buildings and over 1,000 apartments in this complex. Almost all are occupied by Ukrainian refugees. As a rule, men between ages 18 and 60 are not allowed to leave Ukraine, however, exceptions exist where the father has at least 3 children and/or a disabled child. The older girl has been in a wheelchair since birth and requires specialized medical care. While Poland, like other EU countries has helped much, the influx of refugees is a strain to their medical, education, and welfare systems. Nechai Family Charity provided a year’s supply of medicine for the girl in 2023 and renewed this in 2024.

As compared to other refugees, this family is relatively better off. Mainly because the father is present, but also significantly due to the efforts of a distant relative who lives nearby. He helped them get settled and found a job for the father. The father earns about 75% of the Poland poverty level wage, but combined with subsidized housing and other support, they are able to survive. Like most refugees, their greatest desire is to return home. However, due to the needs of the disabled child (which would not be met currently in Ukraine), as well as the war’s uncertainty, this remains but a hope for the time being.

NFC volunteer with family

Nechai Family Charity has helped to sponsor a family of 3 who have come to the USA under the Uniting for Ukraine program. While some financial assistance has been provided, the main support has been to help this family navigate through the red tape of government agencies, health care, education, and housing. This has involved communication with close to twenty organizations. As an example, the family was unable to rent an apartment as they needed references and at least 6 months of pay stubs. Obviously lacking these, where could they live? Nechai Family Charity stepped in and discussed this with the landlord. As a compromise, Nechai Family Charity pre-paid 6 months rent, which the family has since fully repaid. Fortunately the father has a good job, and while health care and other costs are much higher than they are used to, they are adapting to life in the USA. Unfortunately, the company the father was working for went out of business BUT he was able to obtain a new job in Florida as a handyman and is thriving, especially with all the repairs needed after recent hurricanes. The family is now very much independent and while grateful for the safety and opportunity in the USA, hope to return to Ukraine when they can.

Shortly after the invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Nechai Family Charity assisted a family in seeking refugee status in Poland. Many European countries have expended considerable resources in helping refugees, none more so than Poland. But finding a lack of jobs (due to the throng of refugees) this family had moved on to Sweden where they were given an apartment in a small town in the rural west, and also provided assistance with food and medical coverage. Unfortunately, work opportunities were limited so the husband has been living and working in Stockholm, some 6 hours away by train, returning monthly to his family. Nechai Family Charity followed up with them and were able to enjoy a day with the mother and daughter, exploring the town. The daughter is bright and energetic. She’s also fearless (like most Ukrainians) as demonstrated by her skateboarding and gymnastics.

There are other refugees in this town, and the mother knew them all (introducing us to many of them). It was good to see them safe. After this, we visited Stockholm to meet with the husband. He has a good job: full-time and permanent, as opposed to day labor. He is on track for Swedish permanent residency and eventual citizenship. Sweden has a much higher cost of living than Poland, and the husband confided that the support they have been receiving will be coming to an end (or at least greatly reduced). Consequently, their plan is for the wife and daughter to join him in Stockholm, and once the daughter starts school, for the mom to find employment. We think this plan will work out for them. Again, it’s good to see a success story! 

Back in Ukraine is another couple we have been assisting. This husband and wife have 3 grown children, with families of their own. All 3 left the country when Russia invaded and the parents are now left alone. Previously they had farmed a large garden with many vegetables, corn, and potatoes, and raised chickens, ducks, geese and goats. Now they have a much smaller garden and just a few chickens and geese.

We found out that this past year had been particularly difficult for them. In the city there are (mostly) predictable, rolling, blackouts. These blackouts can be as long as 12 hours, about 3 or 4 times per week, but in the village there is no schedule. Their experience this past winter was daily blackouts, often for 12 or more hours, and there was a stretch in February where they had no electricity for 5 days. We discussed their situation and determined that a generator would be of great help to them. A few of their neighbors and relatives have generators, but there are only a handful in the village. There are not many choices available, and the more common Chinese-made generators have a bad reputation for cheap copper windings that fail within months. We thus opted for a more expensive generator made in Japan with control parts from Italy. We anticipate that their upcoming winter will be more manageable. We will follow-up with them in the spring.