Category: Q&A

Derry woman brings her Ukrainian family to NH

Nataliya Androsovych, a Ukrainian-American living in Derry, shared her story of bringing her mother, Olga, and 9-year-old nephew, Lev, who had fled from Ukraine, to safety in New Hampshire. For information on a local effort to help the people of Ukraine, visit dobroinc.org.

What is your connection to Ukraine?

I was born in Ukraine, went to school and university there and got married. My first child was born in Ukraine. I come there every other year as we still have family and friends there.

At what point did you decide to go overseas to get your mother and nephew?

When [the war] started, I wasn’t able to eat, drink, sleep — I wasn’t even functioning. I was worried about my mother being alone as my brother, a former military officer, might be taken back to the army. … Though [where they lived in Ukraine] was not that bad compared to the other part of the country, it is nice to give them some peace from the air raids. I can’t even imagine how difficult it is to go and hide every time when needed. They lived on the third floor, and at some point, she just gave up going down to a hiding place, which was a cold basement. They [started] just hiding between the walls in the entryway of their apartment. My nephew could not sleep for a month and would wake up every night screaming that they needed to hide. … I asked them to leave as I knew that I [could] come and get them and bring [then] here. [Bringing] them here would give everyone relief and peace of mind.

How did you manage to get them out of Ukraine?

I told my mom and nephew to leave Ukraine in March. They went to Poland. … [They] walked for five hours in the cold to cross the border. … Then, [they spent] a couple days there in a refugee facility with 100 other people. … Then, they were picked up by my friend, [who] brought them to Germany … where they stayed with three other families. I was able to find people in Stockholm who helped to accommodate them there. After [they spent] three weeks there, I moved my mom and nephew to Sweden … where I went to pick them up. However, it wasn’t that easy to bring them here to the U.S. without a visa.

How does it feel having them here now?

I’m so happy to have mom and nephew here with me. … Here, they are safe and don’t need to worry about getting food [and shelter]. … I admire my mom for her strength as she went above and beyond to save her grandchild.

Are you involved in any efforts in New Hampshire to help the people of Ukraine?

I’m closely working with a nonprofit organization [called] Dobro. It was started by my friends. We are doing Ukrainian fairs, collecting clothes, and I’m personally knocking [on] every door asking people for donations. [This] money [is] used to buy medicine, ammunition and give all necessary help directly [to people in Ukraine], bypassing huge organizations. My friends who are at the front lines fighting need basic T shirts, boots, tactical gloves [and] military first aid. With Dobro, all that is bought and delivered with the help of trusted people in Poland, Romania, Moldova and Ukraine. This way, we save [on] shipping costs.

The following questions were asked of Nataliya’s mother, Olga, with her answers translated from Ukrainian to English by Nataliya.

What went through your mind when you heard your daughter wanted to come bring you to New Hampshire?

I was happy. It is very hard to be alone in a foreign country without [knowing the] language and [having] family around. I knew we would be welcome at my daughter’s house and could relax and enjoy time together with her family.

What has it been like for you so far, living in New Hampshire? How are you adjusting?

No matter how wonderful it is here, I miss my home a lot. It is still hard to be [somewhere] without [knowing the] language. But my daughter is trying everything possible to make it easier for us. We go to the beach every weekend. We go sightseeing, to the zoo and to the lake.

What would you like people here in New Hampshire to know about what’s going on in Ukraine?

It is important to know the truth about what’s going on in Ukraine. Don’t believe what Russian media [says] about Ukraine. It’s a true war there … [with] innocent lives taken away. There are lots of people who suffer as they lost their loved ones, their houses — everything. War is a very scary thing, and it is important that everyone understands that and continues to protect peace. Life, health and family are the most precious things we could have. Please be kind to each other.

Do you plan to go back?

Yes, we are planning to go back. My son is there, and my grandson misses his dad and school friends. Because we came on a visa, we won’t be able to make sure that my grandson goes to school [here]. Hopefully things work out there for us. However, if anything changes, we will go back to the U.S.

Featured photo: Nataliya Androsovych, left, with her mother, Olga, right. Courtesy photo.

Community health workers assist police in Manchester

Last month, a new Public Health and Safety Team (PHAST), funded through the American Rescue Plan Act, was formed to serve the City of Manchester, combining the efforts of the Manchester Police and Manchester Public Health departments. The team consists of eight Community Health Workers who are trained in advocacy, conflict resolution and “violence interruption,” an evidence-based response technique for non-police and non-emergency matters to help reduce violent crime. PHAST supervisor Biram Saidybah shared more about how the team serves the city’s residents and allows the police department to focus on issues that require the services of law enforcement.

How and why was PHAST created?

The Manchester Police Department had been receiving a lot of calls … and many of those calls were [about] something that has nothing to do with what law enforcement [handles] … and usually nothing to do with violence. The city realized that maybe it could have another team of people respond to those calls, and that’s how the idea for a Public Health and Safety Team was conceived. … The intention is for us to partner with the police and to inherit those calls that are not law enforcement [issues] … freeing up maybe up to six or eight police officers to be able to concentrate on violence issues.

What qualifications do PHAST workers have?

They all have training to be a community health worker, and some have years of experience working as a community health worker. … Some of us have also lived the same experiences that the people we are serving are currently living, and we want them to also be able to achieve their dreams in America. … It’s also a multilingual and multicultural team. We felt that hiring people who can speak more than one language would be the best way to reach out to a wider community. … Everybody has a unique skill that the others don’t have, so the team has a combination of unique skills. … Anytime we receive a call, we’ll look at who is the best person [to respond to] that call, based on their character and skills here, so that we can address it in the best possible way. … Finally, everyone has a story about why they joined this team. Every one of us on this team is dedicated and loves this community, loves the job that we’re doing and loves to serve people.

What types of calls does PHAST respond to?

One type is what’s called wellness checks or condition checks. … If someone goes to an individual’s house, knocks at the door and nobody answers and they aren’t able to get in communication with that individual, typically they call the police to come check on that individual. … Then, there are people who are repeat callers, who will call the police department three, four, five times in a month. They may be people who have mental health challenges, people who are just lonely and need to talk to somebody, or people who are having issues, like they’re about to be evicted or they don’t know how to apply for health insurance, things like that. Many of those calls are also from seniors who are living by themselves and don’t have anyone there to help them with things in their day-to-day life, so anytime they’re confronted with something [they need help with], they call the police. … Another type of call is for what’s referred to as ‘hotspots,’ neighborhoods that the police receive a lot of calls from or that may have a lot of crime going on.

In addition to responding to those calls, what else does PHAST do?

Part of our partnership with the Police Department [involves] the Community Response Unit; if someone in the city overdoses, we will go with two police officers 72 hours after the overdose to do a condition check on the individual and to give them resources. … Another activity we’ve been engaged in is, whenever we go to a ward, we see if there’s something like a broken sidewalk or a broken electrical pole or a branch of a tree that’s fallen, things like that, and we take a picture of it using the SeeClickFix app, which then goes … to the department responsible for addressing that issue.

How is PHAST better-equipped than the police to handle certain issues?

The Community Response Unit is a good example. When we go to check on a person, we don’t normally allow police officers to do the talking. We’ll ask them to stand back, close enough to provide some security to us, but far enough to give some privacy to that individual, because many people are more interested in talking to us than to the police. … We also have the language skills to communicate with people … and sometimes it’s not just about language, but about culture. If I go to the house of an individual, and we look the same, and we speak the same language, and maybe we’re even from the same country originally, then that individual may be able to trust and open up and communicate with me better.

Featured photo: Biram Saidybah. Courtesy photo.