DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) — Two Ukrainian families arrived in central Illinois two weeks ago with the help of the Decatur Rotary Club.
"We have welcomed two families from Ukraine to Decatur," Heather Stoa, the International Service Chair for the Rotary Club, said. "The first family is from Kharkiv in the northeastern part of the country about 20 miles from Russia and the second family is from Dnipro."
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Since the Russian invasion in 2022, millions of Ukrainians have been forced to flee their homes.
"We lived in Germany a little bit for two years when the war started and here it's like a new life: something new for us, so we're just excited to be here," said Diana Panaschchenko, who arrived two weeks ago with her family.
The Decatur Rotary Club did the bulk of the legwork to help get the families to the states.
"In June, I presented the plan to our club. Then in August we interviewed the families, issued an invitation. So in September, I turned in applications to the United States Citizenship and Immigration Service," Stoa said. "They received word in October. In December they were approved for travel, and they arrived two weeks ago."
The club has committed to assisting the families for two years, but expects that they will be able to sustain themselves in 3-6 months.
"[We just want to] start a new life and try ourselves to just start to live here. For now, that's it,"Â Panaschchenko added.
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