Rural Ontario stepping up to clothe and house Ukrainians

The second floor of the Goderich Memorial Arena has turned into the headquarters for Iuliia Dovzhemko’s love letter to her homeland.

“I’m doing this because I felt hopeless. This is something I can do to help people, that I can’t even imagine what they’re going through,” she says.

Dovzhemko immigrated to Canada in 2017. Her family remains in Ukraine. In four short days, she’s accumulated half an arena full of clothes, food and necessities for the millions of Ukrainians fleeing their homeland, including her family, who are currently sitting on a bus near the Polish border. A trip that will last days.

“Two days for sure, after that, we’ll see. People like that need help at the border, then people who just lost their houses too,” she says.

The support has been so overwhelming, Dovzhemko has had to move her donation drop off point from the Goderich YMCA, where she volunteers, to the upper floor of the Goderich Memorial Arena.

“I wasn’t expecting anything like this,” she says, pointing at the room full of donations that is being trucked daily to the London Ukrainian Centre, and then onto Ukraine.

In Blyth, Geza Wordofa with the Multicultural Association Perth-Huron, is getting ready to accept as many 60 Ukrainian refugees to the two counties, in as little as two weeks from now.

His volunteer organization has jobs all but lined up for the Ukrainian refugees but need help with money and housing.

“Whether it’s a garage or couch or basement or storage building, we don’t care. Our 58 volunteers are ready to come to clean up any space for our refugees. The community did so much for our Syrian refugees, today I’m asking for help for Ukraine,” says Wordofa.

Wordofa, who used to live in Russia and the Ukraine, and has himself immigrated twice, knows the struggles of having your life upended unexpectedly.

“Ukrainian people help me out, today I want to give back. I want to give back,” he says.

Similar Ukrainian support efforts are underway in Listowel and Kincardine where two of midwestern Ontario’s largest employers are helping out. Kincardine’s Bruce Power has donated $20,000 towards Ukraine relief and Markdale’s Chapman’s Ice Cream has sent $50,000 towards the Ukrainian relief effort.

To learn more about housing Ukrainians refugees in Huron-Perth, or helping donate goods to the Ukrainian people, you can visit https://maph.ca/ or drop by the Goderich Memorial Arena.