Jacksonville family takes in over a dozen Ukrainian refugees

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A local family in Jacksonville has brought over a dozen Ukrainian refugees into their homes and community, many of them kids.

Today, a few of these families, and the family hosting them, shared their story with Action News Jax.

“At 4 a.m. my husband hugged me and he whispered ‘it has started’, said Natalia Lototska, a Ukrainian mother, businesswoman, and now refugee.

“I joke and say, my kids, they overslept at the beginning of the war,” she smiled. Her two daughters, 10 years old and 14 years old, sat next to her smiling but looking off into the distance.

The family has been alone since February. 26th, two days after the invasion began in their hometown of Kyiv. Natalia’s husband works for the government. When he heard the bomb, he reported for work.

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“I stayed at home, started packing, we tried to be as slow as possible because it was only two or three … a few rockets or bombs or whatever.”

While the girls slept, she gathered documents, money, and got supplies from a nearby store. When she got home, the girls woke up. That was when they found out the invasion had begun, in a very 2022 way.

“And they open TikTok … and that’s how they found what has happened.”

They started packing, and reality set in.

“You have to think not about life but about survival,” Natalia said.

For days they traveled across Ukraine, into Poland, and finally, here to Jacksonville.

“Like about five days I think but for us, it’s like … lasting forever.”

Her story resembles Olga Galushchak’s, who packed up and traveled for six days including getting stranded on the side of the road in Romania with a broken car, staying in a camp set up for refugees.

“They gave us four mattresses to sleep on for six of us but that was enough. They were really very kind. We had food, we had toys and the kids felt relaxed there,” Olga said.

Accepting help where they could find it.

“I lack words to describe how kind these volunteers are.”

“My cousin texted me on Messenger and she was like okay, Andrew just woke up her husband, and we heard the bombs. So it started. And I just got chills. and that’s it.”

The family had been watching for signs of war for months. Steve started reaching out as soon as he saw the invasion had begun.

“Once everything started going down, obviously the first concern was, is everyone safe?” Steve said.

As soon as the war started, they pushed for their loved ones to come.

“We’ve managed to get them to relocate to the family friends in the immediate area here in Jacksonville.”

Now, they have relocated 15 people, family, and friends, to homes in the area. At least half of them are kids between the ages of 4 to 18 — kids that now know war.

“Actually two days ago it was her third time crying since the war started and she was like, ‘Mama what if my toys gonna die in Kyiv?” Natalia said of her daughter.

Her 10-year-old daughter Maria had fought for more toys to be brought — her family limited her to three stuffed animals.

“We are not in our home, we are not with our toys, we are not with our classmates and I want to go back and live how I lived before,” Maria said.

The families were able to come because they already had VISAs.

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“They’ve been here before. they used to come here for children’s camps in the summer and Disney World. And now they just had to come here to escape,” Viktoriya explained. Olga said they had planned to visit but not like this.

“They’ve been here before. they used to come here for children’s camps in the summer and Disney World. And now they just had to come here to escape,” Viktoriya explained. Olga said they had planned to visit- but not like this.

But now, both women had to leave their husbands behind.

“We miss my husband, the kids their dad, and other relatives … but we are sure we will win and we will meet soon,” Olga said.

She is grateful for a safe space, as “this means the space for my kids will not hear the alarms, or they will not be afraid of the planes that are flying above their heads.”

But now, they have so little, Steve explained. “All of them left with just the clothes on their backs and whatever they could throw in a little duffel bag.”

The little ones just hope they can one day get back to normal.

“I want to go back but it’s like now it’s a safe place for us and we can be here and be... I want to go back as soon as I can,” Maria said.

Natalia is a small business owner who teaches English to students in Ukraine. While she has been here she has tried to continue to employ her workers to work for Motley, but says it is difficult. If you would like to help, you can donate here.

If you would like to help the family by buying the girls clothes, food, and other supplies while they continue to stay locally, you can help through their Venmo: @stevecroskey

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