Local business owner working to house two families displaced by Ukrainian war
By Daeshen Smith
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MOBILE, Alabama (WALA) — As the war in Ukraine nears the seven-month mark, Ukranian families are still coming to terms with what’s happening in their home country.
“There have been fires, battles, and shooting in our city in recent months,” said Natalya Skopina. “Our city has been captured by Russia.”
Some people were able to escape like Alex Pyl who was able to make it across this bridge to Switzerland with his grandmother.
“It was scary because the Russian army was attacking at this time,” said Alex Pyl.
Unfortunately his pregnant wife Olga is still in Kyiv.
“She worries everyday,” said Pyl. “Right now she’s near a lot of Russian Federation.”
Meanwhile, Natalya Skopina managed to make it to Ireland where they live in a refugee house with 200 people.
“When we got there there were no showers or kitchens,” said Skopina.
Local businesswoman D’wanda Schwartz is trying to help. She joined a group called U4U. It’s a government program that allows people to sponsor Ukrainians to bring them to safety and provide them housing. Schwartz has sponsored both families in hopes of bringing them to Mobile.
“We had the availability to be able to offer them our home and it seemed like it was a great opportunity to bring them to safety,” said Schwarz.
Getting them over here is still a challenge.
“We’re really just hoping to get them here safely so the biggest need right now is the flights,” added Schwarz.
Now Schwarz and the families are asking for any help to get them to their new home and a fresh start in Mobile.
“We have nowhere to return to,” said Skopina.
“We want to see our children happy and to have a good maybe normal life,” said Pyl.
There are two ways you can help. If you have any unused air miles you can contact D’wanda Schwarz to donate them. Her number is 605-490-3998 and her email address is dwandas10@gmail.com. If you’d like to donate money towards plane tickets, you can do so here: gofundme.com/f/two-ukrainian-families-community-relief-project?utm_campaign=p_lico+share-sheet&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=customer
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