ATLANTA — A non-profit in Atlanta has been working day and night to get about 20 kids in an orphanage in Kiev across the border to safety. They said it has been a dangerous journey, but one they didn’t have a choice to make.
Father’s Care, a non-profit headquartered in Atlanta runs and supports a rehab center called the Ark in Ukraine dedicated to restoring families. They work with children from hard places -- parents with substance addiction or prostitution to kids with no parents – and help them work through their trauma.
They’ve been dedicated to this mission long before the war.
“We’ve been doing this since 1998,” founder Jane Hyatt said. “We’ve had well over 500 children come to the Ark. I love, love, love, love the Ukrainian people."
Tim Benjamin is on the board of Father’s Care. He joined after a mission trip to Ukraine in 2008 with Peachtree City United Methodist Church, who sponsors and supports the non-profit.
“In 2008 when we went there for the first time, we had a great time. We built a bond with the kids,” he said.
On a table in his home sit several items representing his trips to Ukraine: a hand-painted picture of a church, nesting dolls, a hand-painted Ukrainian egg, a picture with the children of the Ark, and a little pink stuffed dog.
The little pink dog means the most to Benjamin.
“One young lady at the end of our trip, I went to say goodbye to her. She gives me a hug and she goes, ‘No wait right here, I want to bring you something.’ And she goes to her room and brings me this dog back,” Benjamin said.
“She was insistent. You have to have this. And I said why? And she looked at me with this look of shock and surprise. She said, ‘Because I don’t want you to forget us,’” Benjamin said. “And it worked. It was the best investment any human being ever made.”
Fourteen years later, his heart is still tied to the people of Ukraine. He and Hyatt have been working day and night from America to keep the kids safe during the Russian invasion.
The last few days have been about survival.
“They’ve spent the better part of the last week in a bomb shelter,” Benjamin said. “They are in a fleeing situation because there is some intelligence to suggest that schools and orphanages are becoming a bit of a target now.”
“Every child has a backpack and in their backpacks they have a change of underwear, a couple changes of clothing, toothbrush, soap, towel, toilet paper, deodorant. The stuff that you need generally to survive every day,” Hyatt said.
When we spoke to them late last week, the children had just left the bomb shelter headed for a train that would take them across the border to safety.
“Had they not left, I don’t think they’d be around,” Hyatt said.
“I would say at least twice a night I wake up with a jolt and I wonder, ‘are they alive? What happened to the building? What happened to them?’” Benjamin said.
Late Saturday night, we got word the group made it out of Ukraine and rode a bus safely into Germany where they’ll stay until they can go home – however long that is.
“I think I’ll just have a meltdown and cry. It’ll be such a relief to my heart [to know they’re safe],” Hyatt said.
Now, Father’s Care is working to make sure the kids have something to come home to if the building is still standing after the bombs have stopped.
“Unfortunately, wars create orphans, so when they are able to go back, there is going to be a tremendous social demand for what they can provide,” Benjamin said.
Costs have already skyrocketed.
“Natural gas used to be $3,500 a month. It is now $14,000 a month. And why? Because the gas comes from Russia. There is more than one way to fight a war,” Benjamin said.
The non-profit says they can’t reliably get supplies to the kids, so monetary donations are best right now. They say 99.2 percent of all the money goes directly to support the kids.
If you feel compelled to donate, you can give through the Father’s Care website or through an online fundraiser set up by the non-profit.