Two sisters lead push to help Ukrainian refugees secure housing in NYC
Two sisters are raising funds to secure permanent housing for the thousands of Ukrainian refugees in New York who fled their worn-torn homeland following Russia’s invasion.
Lidya and Gabriella Oros founded the Ukrainian Habitat Fund, which held its first fundraiser at the Keuka Kafe on Wednesday to help mark Ukrainian Independence Day.
The hosts passed out traditional bread and salt and Ukrainian beer and wine was served, with proceeds going to the cause.
“It’s a bittersweet moment. We are raising awareness,” Lidya Oros said at the event in Forest Hills, Queens. “Thank God there are soldiers defending Ukraine.”
The Oros sisters — Ukrainians who founded the New York-based Oros Team real estate brokerage firm — are leveraging their connections in the industry to negotiate leases for Ukrainian refugees, almost exclusively women with kids who came here for safety while their husbands remain back home as soldiers to defend the homeland from the Russian aggressors.
The funds raised will help entirely or partially cover annual leases.
Finding apartments is a challenge for the savviest locals, let alone Ukrainian refugees who lack citizenship papers and connections in a competitive housing market.
“We’re seeing a spike in the market and inventory is low,” Lidya Oros said.
She also emphasized that refugees need a regular address to make it easier to enroll their children in public school and get a job.
“Some of the Ukrainian families have gone back to Ukraine because of the difficulty in getting permanent housing here,” Gabriella Oros said.
Lesya Kyrbenko and her two 12-year-old twins, Nikolay and Stefania, were among the first refugees to obtain an apartment in Manhattan’s East Village — which includes “Little Ukraine” — through the Ukrainian Habitat Fund.
“I appreciate the people in the United States. Everyone is helping us as much as they can. We are grateful,” Kyrbenko said at the fundraiser.
She said she spoke to her husband earlier Wednesday, who is a soldier in eastern Ukraine.
Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, who visited Ukraine last fall before the invasion, said it’s important to not only welcome refugees but provide them practical help.
He traveled to Kyiv as part of Ukraine’s commemoration of the 80th anniversary of the Babi Yar Massacre, which saw the Nazi killings of approximately 100,000 Ukrainians, Jews, Russians and other ethnic groups during World War II.
“I fell in love with the country. I’m heartbroken over the situation there. There are places I slept at in Kiev that were bombed. Ukrainians are a proud people fighting for their sovereignty,” Richards said at the fundraiser Wednesday.
“We need to open our arms. While we open our arms, we need to open our wallets.”
Richards said he will explore obtaining government assistance “any way I can” to aid the refugees.
The Keuka Kafe is owned by Ukrainian native Oleg “Ollie” Sakhno. He and his wife, Olga, have been involved in aiding Ukrainians since the war began in February.
