You made this possible

I have been sending a series of emails to those who supported the campaign, to tell them what they’ve made possible. Because some people miss these updates, and also because each story of generosity is proof that we can make a difference in a world that feels largely outside of our control, I am sharing them here, too. This page will be updated ongoing.

You're covering the cost of therapy for these refugees

Wed, Mar 9, 2022 at 3:10 PM

Thank you for your contribution to WLCM's fund for Ukrainian families. This will be the first of many updates on exactly where it goes.

You have allowed us to schedule two group therapy sessions for this week with a Ukrainian crisis therapist who will offer information and skills for managing mental health at this time, as well as how to support family members, friends, and others who are suffering. You are offering this not only to a team of 18 refugees and their families, but also to their extended networks, for whom we can, thanks to you, set up additional sessions.

Your contributions will continue to cover group and one-on-one sessions for those who are interested in it.

The war is not over, but you have enabled healthy processing, and eventually healing, to begin for those who are ready for it. Thank you.

More soon.

Lindsey

You took Lilia to Ikea

Wed, Mar 16, 2022 at 5:51 PM

Lilia woke to air raid sirens February 24. She and her husband, Maks, filled two backpacks, grabbed their cat, and fled to Poland in the wee hours of the morning. Lilia sat terrified in a train station on the Polish side for over 10 hours, watching the news and helping her colleagues arrange their own safe passage, her apartment in Lviv becoming home to Anna and her son on their way to Poland, and now Sergey with his wife and two young daughters.

Her parents are still in Dnipro, her home town. Her dad is proudly manning a checkpoint to defend the city, which Russia began bombing last week. One of her best friends from growing up committed suicide shortly after the bombing, unaccounted-for collateral damage.

Lilia and Maks landed in Lisbon and rented an apartment, empty save for their backpacks.

You took her to Ikea. You bought her a spatula, forks and spoons, a small kitchen table and two chairs, some bath towels and bed sheets, a bit of comfort and humanity. Thank you.

More soon.
Lindsey

PS: The conversations I've had with Lilia and my other colleagues over the past few weeks have made me think a bit differently. I wrote this about it.
PPS: Inc. Magazine wrote about us last week. You can read the article here.

Left to right: A photo Maks took of Lilia at the Polish train station Feb 24. Lilia's dad.

You sent diapers and soap

Thurs, Mar 31, 2022 at 11:17 AM

In my last message, I spoke about Lilia Solovey. This is about Lilia Rudenko.

Lilia R is a first-time mom with a five-month-old daughter, Kira, who was living outside of Kharkiv. She announced proudly to us that she was pregnant with Kira on the day I gave birth to my own daughter, Eve.

On February 24, Lilia heard gunfire and fled to her parents' basement. She was the first to alert the team that the war was happening, her message on Slack translating roughly to, "We heard gunshots... Friends, take care of yourselves. I love you all! You are the best. Everything will be fine."

She waited in her parents' basement until supplies ran out, judged her risk before venturing out to get more food, water, diapers. Every night she prayed the war would be over when she woke up.

Instead, Russia began bombing Kharkiv with more intense and indiscriminate bombing that continues to this day and has leveled entire neighborhoods. The NY Times has verified footage and radio intercepts of Russian soldiers killing entire families in their cars and firing into homes. Footage of the state of Lilia's city as of the third week of the war is here.

Lilia and her husband's calculations were fraught, but on March 4th, they decided to attempt the dangerous drive west. Various members of the team offered contacts so that each day Lilia's family would only need to make short trips. This reduced their risk of being caught on the road during curfew (8pm-6am), and given the unpredictability of traffic and road conditions, it was a necessary safety precaution. Lilia had ran out of diapers by this point, and they couldn't be found in stores, so another part of this strategy was making sure she had a safe place to clean Kira.

Lilia, Kira and her husband made it across the Polish border March 9.

You covered their rent and other costs in Poland as they weighed their next move. On April 14, Lilia, Kira and her husband will arrive in Lisbon. You bought their plane tickets and paid their deposit on an apartment in what will be their new city. Lilia S. arranged for them to live in her same building.

Lilia Rudenko is one of many mothers, babies and children caught in the crossfire. In addition to supporting her family, you bought entire pallets of diapers, wipes, soap, toothbrushes and toothpaste, shampoo and toys. You then filled the gas tanks of the trucks carrying it all to Ukraine via an NGO in Lisbon, where Lilia S. did the shopping and delivery. Thank you.

More soon.
Lindsey

Left to right: Lilia Rudenko and Kira. Packing the supplies you purchased in Lisbon, to ship to Ukraine.

Thank you

Mon, Oct 10 2022 at 12:58 PM

We have six team members who decided to stay in western Ukraine, where it has been considered relatively safe. Just last week, half of them returned to the old office in Lviv. Sofiia and Katya sent me the photo below of them there October 4.

Thanks to your generosity to date, twenty Ukrainian families received direct cash support. I sent out a few specific stories previously, but there are over a dozen others... You bought birthday gifts for kiddos, strollers, diapers and toys. You paid for plane tickets, apartment deposits, and Ikea couches. You bought Minecraft sheets for 7-year-old Vanya, to dress the bed you also bought him, in he and his mom's new place in Lisbon. You sent supplies across the border to families we'll never meet, but who we feel we know.

In our post-Russian-invasion reality, and in pursuit of lightness, we've created something we're calling "Joy Labs" to create our own projects for the sheer fun of it. As you might expect from a team of parents, one of these projects is particularly silly and made for the kiddos. We look forward to sharing it with you soon... stand by!

You showed up in a time of need, and you made a difference. I've tried to communicate that in my letters to you, but I can't know if I'll ever be able to tell you sufficiently what a relief it was to everyone to receive the help you gave them. We had families with young children who had to abandon the new home they'd just bought and finished furnishing, to travel across Europe and start over with nothing. When Rudenko was shopping for a fridge with the funds you gave her, she spotted the one she'd bought just months ago for her home in Kharkov, and broke down in tears. She chose a different model for Lisbon.

Often when a tragedy hits, I give some cash to someone's cause, I post my support publicly on social media, and I wonder if I've made any difference at all.

I can't speak for every tragedy or cause in the world, but in this case I can say with confidence that this kind of action, even if it felt small, truly mattered. It made a real difference in the real lives of real people in a moment when they needed it most.

Even the social media post, oft derided for its impotence: it matters. The suffering see your solidarity. It gives them hope. This is what I've witnessed. It gives me heart, and I hope it does the same for you.

Typically I'm not in a position to directly help. This time I was. Next time it may be you, in which case: hit me up.

Warmly,
Lindsey