By Terry Collier, Rotary Club of Seminole, Florida, USA
I’ve been a professional counselor for more than 30 years. For the last 24, I have focused on individuals, couples, families, and organizations in crisis. I have worked in the nonprofit sector my whole life and have started four of them. In July 2021, just after the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the world, I started Crisis Connect to address the multitude of “crises” I saw around me. A crisis is when a person, family, or organization is destabilized.
When the invasion of Ukraine happened in February 2022, our local Ukrainian church held a vigil that I attended. Moved by the vigil, a fellow Rotarian from the Seminole Lake club, Sandra Lilo, who is Ukrainian-American, and I distributed a memo through our networks listing needed humanitarian items. We knew that Rotary and hundreds of other large organizations would respond to the crisis in Ukraine, but wanted to let our local Ukrainian community know we cared and wanted to come alongside them physically, emotionally, and financially.
After collecting two tractor-trailers loaded with presorted humanitarian items and packing thousands of backpacks to help those fleeing their homes, we had the first shipment flown to Poland and then trucked to Lviv, Ukraine. With Sandra’s help, we connected with Rotary clubs in Poland and Ukraine who secured warehouses and trucks to properly distribute the supplies.
More than two years have gone by and the war is still destroying a country and thousands of families. A few months after the invasion, refugees started showing up on the steps of our local Ukrainian church. I kept the little task force together to help with emergency housing, transportation, food, jobs, clothing, language school, and schools for the children. Now into the second year, we have helped about 25 mothers and their children. It has evolved from emergency housing to long-term housing.
Through our efforts, we have provided about US$60,000 in cash, two vehicles, and job placement for about 25 refugee mothers. Now that summer is here again, providing summer camps for the children so the mothers can work is very important and very expensive as the camps fill up quickly. With the Rotary connection in District 6950 and Rotary clubs in Poland and Ukraine, we have made a difference in the lives of a few.
Crisis Connect and our small task force has been able to meet the critical needs of these individuals without being bogged down in bureaucratic tape. I have been a crisis counselor long enough to know when a critical decision needs to be made. I have been a Rotarian long enough to know and follow The Four-Way Test. A hundred percent of the money given to Crisis Connect for Ukrainian relief is given to refugees who have come to our community, no fees or salaries are taken from this special fund. We are a small 501c-3 that reports to the IRS and has financial accountability. I could share stories all day of the people we have helped.
But the best part of it all has been building relationships and watching these young, traumatized mothers rebuild their lives with the help of the Rotary family and the values of a country that helps those in crisis and need.
https://blog.rotary.org/2024/06/27/rotarians-help-ukrainian-refugees-rebuild-in-florida/