“It’s a miracle,” Nataliya Kashchenko said of the help she received to bring her family to LaSalle, where they expect to stay for several months. “I was told, Natalia, do not worry. Only bring your family. “Make the papers.” Kashchenko, an ophthalmologist originally from Kyiv, has been living in the Othon Marathon with her husband Julian since 2019. She has several relatives – including Leonid and Valentyna’s parents, brother Sergii, sister-in-law Oleksandra and aunt Antonina Morozenko – still in Ukraine. And on February 24, when Russia began its invasion of Ukraine, life in its homeland “changed tremendously,” he said. Kashchenko’s brother, Sergii, was quick to move the rest of the family to the west of the country, where they stayed with relatives before moving to various European countries – including Sweden and Romania – where they remain. Mary Lambros offers her house in LaSalle to the family of Nataliya Kashchenko. She will stay at her Bell River cottage while the family is at Front Road, but will still pay utilities and taxes. (Darrin Di Carlo / CBC)
Meanwhile, Kashchenko and her husband Julian, a retired engineer, began trying to figure out the next steps. “I realized we needed a house,” she said, as the house she and her husband have in Marathon can not accommodate a large family. “I wanted to find a place anywhere in Ontario … where we can all live together and save money.” “It will be completely inaccessible for us to rent three houses or three apartments.” This house is provided by Mary Lambros, a resident of LaSalle, who decided she needed to do something after watching the news coverage of the war. “I can not even imagine what these women and men had to do,” he said. “And I just felt like there was something I could do.” Lambros initially said she planned to donate funds to support the people of Ukraine, but decided she wanted to do more. And then, he heard about an app that connected people from Ukraine with Canadians who could offer them a place to stay. “I just thought, then, I will send them an email and that’s how it all started,” said Lambros. “I never thought I would get in touch.” “And suddenly, three days later, I get this call and this girl, Natalia, is on my cell phone,” he said. “The strangest thing happened to me. I was very moved. And then he said to me, ‘Are you really?’ And I said “I am”. He said, “No, in fact. Will you do it right?” And I said yes. “ Nataliya Kashchenko’s parents, Leonid and Valentyna, are among nine family members who will come to Canada next month as the Russian invasion of Ukraine continues. (Nataliya Kashchenko / Provided)
Lambros heard everything about Natalia’s family during this conversation and promised that her house would be ready for them when they arrived in Canada. “I just felt so overwhelmed and this emotion that I could help,” Lambros said. “Well, I think that’s the passion behind what I’m trying to do, it’s just do our best and give these people a chance.” In fact, Lambros has been moving out of the house for about six months — she will be staying at her Belle River cottage — while Nataliya’s family lives there, but she will still pay utilities and taxes. “I think they will enjoy being just a family together and they really do not need me around,” he said. Kashchenko said she expects her family to reach two groups: the first on April 15 and the second about two weeks later. “We will make, you know, a big family dinner,” he said. “We can invite those people who saved us, such as Mary and her family.” “Just to cook them something Ukrainian, you know, to tell them … thank you, face to face,” Kashchenko said. “This is what I dream of.” Lambros said she expects the family to be welcomed by the community. “I think the community is ready to embrace them in a big way,” he said. “We do not want to stifle them. I am sure that in their first days they will want to sleep and will hardly eat.” “We’re going to have a lot of things here, and basically, you know, it has a catering kitchen,” he said. “They will just have fun cooking. That’s all [Kashchenko] it is about. “Every time I call her, she says, ‘I’m going to bake this for you and make you a cake,’ and all that stuff.” “I think we will all be very good.”