'It all collapsed': Family of Ukrainian refugees calls South Tampa home after arriving in America
TAMPA, Fla. - A family of four Ukrainian refugees is finding that a townhome in South Tampa's Westshore District is a far cry from where they were just a few weeks ago.
"We lived in Ukraine. Had a house. Had a car. Many friends," Yuliia Venhlinska said. "We had an interesting job. Kids went to school and kindergarten. And in one moment, it all collapsed."
Venhlinska's kids, 11-year-old Maxim and 8-year-old Mark, and their father, Serhii, fled as soon as bombs started hitting their eastern-Ukrainian city of Dnipro.
"He often cries, he wants to go home," Venhlinska said through a translator, of her son, Mark. "He dreams of his playground that is now black from the explosion."
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They arrived in America at Tampa International Airport on Monday morning.
"We drove for four days. When we were driving one bomb exploded very close, and the car staggered. We were very scared," said Venhlinska. "We are safe, but we have a stone in our soul the size of Ukraine. It is terrible, everything that Putin does with our people."
Roaya Tyson used Google to translate during an interview with FOX 13.
She is also the chief operating officer of Gracepoint, a Hillsborough County-based health care non-profit, which is helping to coordinate housing, medical care, and school. The family is staying with her for now.
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"We are just glad we can help in some small way," said Tyson. "That is what this is about. I feel for them, I wish I could do more. I can't give them their home back, but at least we can help them start fresh."
All that would be hard enough even if they hadn't left behind their own parents, who decided to stay, even in the middle of an invasion.
"They have seen how Russians can kill and destroy," said Serhii. "It gives them courage."
Ukrainian family arrives in Tampa to live with host family
A family in Tampa is providing a family of four from Ukraine some sense of security. The family arrived at the Tampa International Airport on Monday morning.
With their new lives underway, they can't help but notice how much the background noise has changed.
"Even in Europe, I felt uneasy," said Venhlinska. "The farther from Russia, the calmer I am. My kids shouldn't feel this way."
A GoFundMe has been set up through Gracepoint: