CARY, N.C. – A North Carolina family is stepping up to provide a safe place for a Ukrainian family after Russia bombed their city of Sumy.

Tony and Evelyn Zehia’s daughters are grown, and the empty nesters knew they had room to host Ukrainian refugees.

“We sat there and we watched the news every night and we said, I said, 'I can’t do this anymore,'” Tony Zehia said. “We made a monetary donation and I said, 'I don’t even know where the money goes.' So, I said, 'Let’s do something.'”

He connected with a Ukrainian family after applying online to host refugees. Beyond a couple of video chats, they were perfect strangers when they arrived.

Yuri Havrykov, his fiancé Oksanna Saienko and her 11-year-old daughter, Yanna, fled Sumy in the northeastern part of Ukraine, near the Russian border. They were forced to leave their parents behind.

“[We’re] here, and [we’re] safe, and our parents stayed in Ukraine… and it’s hard,” Havrykov said. 

Saienko and Yanna traveled from Ukraine to Poland, then Estonia, where Yuri was working at the time, to Mexico, San Diego, Detroit and finally to Raleigh.

The Zehias are first-generation Americans themselves. Their parents came to the United States from Greece.

“When they came here, they had nothing… Eventually my father opened his own restaurant in Charlotte and was successful for many years,” Evelyn Zehia said. “I felt that with hard work, this family and any immigrant coming here has the opportunity to succeed.”

In Ukraine, Saienko is a renowned special needs teacher with multiple college degrees. 

One issue they’re running into in the U.S. is getting the family work permits. The application fees are $400 each with a wait time of 8 to 13 months, according to local immigration lawyers.

Hila Moss, the associate director of legal services at the U.S. Committee for Refugees and Immigrants, says the family is here on humanitarian parole.

“The fact that they are here, with no income coming in, possibly just the clothes on their backs and relying on the goodwill of Americans in this country taking them in, that really is all they can do to wait until their work permit comes in,” Moss explained. “It’s a very sad situation, but it’s the reality of our laws and how we treat the undocumented.”

In the meantime, neighbors and community members who have heard their story have helped with clothing, food and monetary donations to the family.

“We came with one backpack each, so there were a lot of things that did not fit. Therefore, these things that people gave us, we really needed," Saienko said.

Tony Zehia spends hours poring over their paperwork. So far, he’s managed to get Yanna enrolled in Wake County Public Schools, get them a P.O. box and cellphones.

The family’s goal is to become self-sufficient, with their own place, and begin the process to become Americans.

If you’re able to help in any way, Tony Zehia can be reached at (919) 637-4000.