Calls for Ukrainian Relief

Kelowna Stands with Ukraine and The Bravery Foundation are getting support from Kelowna-Lake Country MLA Norm Letnick in a campaign to ease one burden for displaced Ukrainians.

Both organizations have been lobbying for the province to waive the fee for a mandatory medical exam for the new arrivals. Under federal entry rules, the medical exams have to be completed within 90 days of arrival in Canada and they are not currently covered by the Province of BC Medical Services Plan (MSP).

In a letter addressed to Minister of Health Adrian Dix, Letnick writes that the cost of these tests can be as high as $2,000 for a family of four.

“Other provinces have chosen to support the Ukrainians fleeing this horrendous war by covering the costs of the federal medical exams,” writes Letnick. “ I am requesting that you consider welcoming and supporting our displaced Ukrainians with also covering the costs of the federal medical exams.”

Manitoba and Newfoundland and Labrador are already covering the costs of the exams for displaced Ukrainians living in those provinces.

Typically, people applying for work permits, or who have lived for six months in a country with a higher incidence of serious communicable diseases, have to submit the results of a medical diagnostic test before they can come to Canada.

Under Ottawa’s expedited visa process, the Canada-Ukraine Authorization for Emergency Travel (CUAET), that rule was changed to give people 90 days after arrival to submit their results.

Bonnie Penner of The Bravery Foundation has penned a letter to Dix.

“Displaced Ukrainians arrive in our province with usually only one suitcase, which represents all they now own. Adding onto the backs of these people, costs associated with medical exams, seems not only unfair but cruel,” she writes.

“I greatly appreciate that the BC Government has waived the usual three month waiting period for MSP so displaced Ukrainians receive immediate medical coverage. It is my belief, now that your government is aware of their plight, regarding costly medical exams, action will be taken to support our Ukrainian friends,” adds Penner.

Denys Storzhuk of Kelowna Stands With Ukraine says even more than a provincial exemption, he’d like to see the federal government waive the medical exam cost for all incoming Ukrainians.

Cindy White - Jun 25, 2022 / 4:00 am |

Mamas for Mamas teams up with the Bravery Foundation to offer a shopping spree for displaced Ukrainians

Cindy White - Jun 11, 2022 / 4:00 am
 | S
Many arrived in the Central Okanagan with just the clothes on their back, and now The Bravery Foundation and Mamas for Mamas are teaming up to offer displaced Ukrainians a chance to go on a free shopping spree.

“We’re basically closing down Mamas for Mamas Karma Market and our warehouse to the public so that we can have all of the Ukrainian families who have come in, either displaced or refugees, to get access to anything and everything we have,” explains Mamas for Mamas founder Shannon Christensen.

“So, hygiene products, clothing, baby essentials. We’re working with a couple of different companies in town right now to see if we can get extra food there, just to get them set up with a few extra things right off the bat.”

Christensen said they are working in conjunction with KCR Community Resources, the Central Okanagan Food Bank and other organizations that are helping the new arrivals.

She adds that many of the Ukrainians need furniture, bedding, kitchen essentials and other things to fill their homes here.

Mamas for Mamas will be opening their warehouse and store locations on June 15 from 10:00 a.m to noon and then again from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. so the families and individuals who recently arrived in the Okanagan from the conflict zone can pick up some needed supplies.

Those who are interested are required to register in advance because time slots are limited.
Christensen estimates the event will help about 150 people.
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“Right now we have primarily people registered from Kelowna but we’re opening it up all the way from Vernon to Penticton because we know that many agencies are stuck for resources right now in terms of the extras. So we want to make sure that any family from all over the Okanagan knows that they can come in.”
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Anyone who wants to help can sign up to volunteer with Mamas for Mamas at: info@mamasformamas.org

The Bravery Foundation has partnered with a major charitable group to further help Ukrainians settle in Kelowna.

“I’ve teamed with the United Way and their iVolunteer program,” said Bravery Foundation founder Bonnie Penner. “It gives me access to many of their resources.”

It means she can help displaced Ukrainian families find housing, furniture, clothing, personal and other items. Penner has also connected with English as a Second Language (ESL) teachers, working with Kelowna Stands With Ukraine to offer language classes.

The first meet-and-greet will be this Saturday (May 28) at 10:30 a.m. at the First Baptist Church at 1309 Bernard Avenue.

“Their level of English has to be from zero to intermediate,” added Penner. “If they have a high-level, other classes will be offered at a later date.”

She is also working with groups through KCR Community Resources as well as with Mamas For Mamas.

“I’ve coordinated a program with Mamas For Mamas where they put together welcome baskets for families, that I pick up and deliver to KCR,” said Penner. Their main initiative right now is to get all displaced Ukrainians registered through KCR.”

As well, Penner has connected with employers to help find jobs for Ukrainian refugees.

“I was able to facilitate a job hiring fair with the Eldorado (Hotel). They have hired several people. I’m working with Bylands Nursery on job postings as well.”

Penner said she’s also partnered with Argus Hospitality Group to set up emergency housing.

It has been a busy few months for Penner since she started the Foundation. She takes inspiration from her son, who is embedded with Ukrainian forces and is helping to move men, women and children out of danger. Penner said she has vision.

“The natural outcome of vision is passion, and when you have passion you naturally have drive.”

For more information about the Bravery Foundation and the organizations and programs it’s involved with, click here to visit its website.

@GaryBarnes109
gary.barnes@kelownacapnews.com

There is a fundraiser to cover the cost of urgent dental work the family requires. E-transfers can be sent to ninarandal@hotmail.com to help cover the cost of dental work and upcoming medical bills.

Children displaced by the war in Ukraine, who have come to Kelowna and started school, are loving it.

Less than a week at their new school, the two children have made friends in their class and wake up in the mornings excited for the new day, said Nina Typusiak, a Kelowna woman housing distant Ukrainian relatives of her husband.

It has been nearly two weeks since Typusiak and her husband opened their home to a mother and her two children fleeing the war in Ukraine.

Typusiak said she received a Facebook message from the family, after the Russian military invaded Ukraine, asking “can you please save our family”. Although relatives of Typusiak’s husband, they had never previously met in person. But that didn’t stop Typusiak from saying yes immediately.

However, the husband of the family had to stay behind in Ukraine.

“Every day he sends me messages thanking me, for keeping his family safe. He wishes he could be in Canada too,” said Typusiak.
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Despite their cultural and language differences, Typusiak said that now they feel like one family living together under the same roof.

Glenmore Dental gave the Ukrainian mom a free dental appointment and determined that she requires urgent intervention. Typusiak explained that they are fundraising to cover the costs of the urgent treatment the mother and her children require. E-transfers can be sent to ninarandal@hotmail.com to help cover the cost of dental work and upcoming medical bills.

The community has been incredibly supportive, said Typusiak.

I sight Optometry in Kelowna offered to give free eye exams and glasses.

Their house is full of new toys, bikes, scooters and donated clothing, said Typusiak.

Heather MacKay from Villa Salon gave the three Ukrainians free haircuts to help the kids confident on their first day of school and while joining their new community.

Kelowna Stands with Ukraine and the Bravery Foundation have also been incredibly supportive and accomodating, said Typusiak. They have welcomed the new family and facilitated the distribution of donations to this and other displaced families.

JACQUELINE GELINEAU / Apr. 22, 2022 5:00 p.m. / COMMUNITY
Jacqueline.Gelineau@kelownacapnews.com

​One of the goals of my foundation is to assist Ukrainian displaced persons and refugees who are on their way to the Okanagan. I believe together we can strategically accomplish this goal by facilitating connection between individual people, like yourself, with those who’ve been forced out of their homeland due to war. The Bravery Foundation is not trying to reinvent the wheel, but rather strategically and tactically tap into resources our community already has. I’m confident everyone who I’m connecting with wants our new Ukrainian friends to feel welcomed, supported and a part of our Okanagan family. (This post was originally an email sent out to generous Okanagan donors responding to Kelowna's first Ukrainian displaced family).
 
The Journey of One
 
Many of us believe we can’t make a difference because we are only one person, but my experience has taught me this simply is not true. Community is comprised of many one persons. A great example is represented by how many toys, clothes and household items have been donated by many one persons, in one day, after just one article was written by one person in the Kelowna Capital News, thank you Jacqueline Gelineau! Compounded by a second story published on Castanet by one person, Cindy White, and all of a sudden the one small choice of one person filled the large steel donation bin for Ukrainian refugees managed by 'Kelowna Stands With Ukraine' to overflowing. Thank you Kelowna!
 
So how will The Bravery Foundation continue to accomplish our one person goals? It’s not complex really and the second goal has already been put into action and objective achieved. I realized in order to help Ukrainians who want to enter Canada and those already are on their way, would benefit by having easy access to existing government programs. As one person all that was required of me was to make a few strategic phone calls to our local MLA Norm Letnick, MP Tracy Gray and Mayor Colin Basran’s respective offices. Each in their own one person way offered various links and information regarding programs already in place to support displaced Ukrainians. The second step was to contact local Ukrainian groups I’ve been volunteering with and inquire about what they could each offer. Then in one evening I was able to, as one person, place on The Bravery Foundation's website, the information given to me by several one persons. And wah lah The Bravery Foundation’s federal, provincial, regional and local resource pages were born!
 
The Power of One

Today as each one of you sent me an email, and there were lots of you ones, which made me very happy, I pondered on how best to reply to each of you in a meaningful way. Then I realized all I had to do was make one email that I could send to all of you ones! My hope as each one of you reads this one email, that your soul is nourished and you are empowered to continue your one person journey together with me, as one mother whose one son has gone to the front lines in Ukraine to help evacuate one trapped civilian at a time. I strongly believe in the power one and trust together, as other ones, we can collectively accomplish the commission of helping those who’ve lost their homes, belongings and lives.
 
The Connection of One

Since the start of the war, I’ve developed a deep connection with many Ukrainians in the Okanagan one at a time. I do not speak Ukrainian, and I have no prior connection to Ukraine through family or friends. I’ve since discovered Ukraine’s rich culture, and connected with each person one at a time. I’ve found each one has a heart so big and a solidarity to remain free so strong, that it’s inspired me to help Ukrainians in any way I can. Thank you to each and every one of you for joining me in this journey of one! 

We are all in this TOGETHER!

A HUGE Thank you to Dennis Stor and Kelowna Stands With Ukraine for paying for 10 sets of body armour and some tactical gear. The guys arrived safely at their destination today. A local Ukrainian woman Tatiana Arendarchuk helped procure a ride for my hero’s. I’m eternally grateful to you all! Thank you for your continued prayers and Gods speed to free Ukraine.!!

-Bonnie Penner​

A Ukrainian family that fled Russian aggression is due to arrive in Kelowna this weekend.

​Bonnie Penner, the founder of The Bravery Foundation, told Castanet that Ivanka, a woman in her mid-20s, her 9-year-old son Maksym and her 6-year-old daughter Natalia are expected to arrive this weekend.

They fled Ukraine on March 4 and have been staying with a friend of a friend in a one-bedroom apartment in Prague that’s shared by 12 other people. Ivanka’s husband has stayed behind to help free Ukraine and keep Ivanka’s mother safe.

The foundation has been helping Kelowna host Nina Typusiak navigate the red tape to bring her relatives here. “We just connected and I’m like, hey, I can do this for you. Let’s make this happen,” said Penner.

She says the host family doesn’t want to be inundated with calls, emails and messages in the first few weeks because they will be dedicating their energy to getting Ivanka and the children settled, so Bonnie is coordinating everything through the website.

“It takes a village to raise a child and it takes a village to raise a family from Ukraine,” she adds.

The trio will need everything from bus passes, to English lessons, to counselling and a job for Ivanka, who has been granted a work visa under Ottawa’s program for temporarily displaced persons.

The family is the first of what Bonnie hopes will be many to temporarily settle here.

“Our first mandate is to help those people get settled in the Okanagan, provide them tangible items like clothes and toys and different household things. And then also to connect community members in the valley with them for jobs and services and different things."
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“I’ve created a resource for all people from Ukraine that are coming over to connect federally, provincially, regionally and locally. I’ve also got the government processes and procedures and hyperlinks. It’s like a resource that’s quick and easy,” explained Penner.

The Bravery Foundation is also raising money and resources for an international coalition of professional soldiers from around the world who have deployed to the war zone to help rescue civilians and defend Ukraine.

Bonnie’s son left Tuesday for the front. He will be embedded with a unit of the Ukrainian Territorial Defense Forces and took much needed medical supplies with him to help treat the wounded in places cut off from most aid agencies.

Bravery Foundation are supporting a mother and her two children to flee the war in Ukaine

Kelowna will welcome a temporarily displaced Ukrainian family this weekend.

The Bravery Foundation has supported a Ukrainian family in their escape from the war in Ukraine.
Local teacher Nina Typusiak is housing the displaced family, mother Ivanka, and children Maksym, 9, and Natalia, 6.

Their last name has been redacted to protect their privacy. Andre, their father and husband stayed behind in Ukraine to fight.

“We need to honour their privacy and fear,” said Typusiak about respecting the trauma that the family has endured.

The family fled Ukraine on March 4 and since then have been staying with 12 other people in a one-bedroom apartment in Prague.

The three had to leave behind most of their belongings, able to bring only one suitcase and two small backpacks of essentials while fleeing the Russian attack.
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“Ivanka resists with fear everything that is offered to her because it is too scary,” said Typusiak.

“She is so extremely traumatized,” said Bonnie Penner, founder of the Bravery Foundation.

Kelowna Mayor Colin Basran told Capital News that he is “pleased that members of the community have stepped up, I really commend those people opening their homes.”

Basran said “more refugees are welcome,” but acknowledges the difficulty that people face securing housing in the Okanagan.

“The situation is heartbreaking,” said Basran.

Typusiak hired a Toronto-based company to help Ivanka and her children obtain the appropriate papers to enter Canada.

The family has received their Visa and has purchased their plane ticket, paid for by Typusiak.

“The Bravery Foundation is working to help all refugees fleeing the war.”

Those looking to help Ivanka and her family, and those that will be arriving after them, can do so by donating or checking the Bravery Foundation website for specific needs that the arriving families have.

The website also provides up-to-date information for refugees and people escaping war hoping to enter Canada and for those able to host displaced families.

Contact info@thebraveryfoundation.com with questions or offers of donations or opportunities like jobs for temporarily displaced people.

JACQUELINE GELINEAU / Apr. 6, 2022 11:30 a.m. /NEWS

​A good crowd showed up on Saturday for a ‘Kelowna Supports Ukraine’ mega yard sale.
The event featured all kinds of donated items on display, including an assortment of uniquely made Ukrainian-made items. A big thank you to Kelowna Stands with Ukraine for making this event happen!  

Kimberly Davidson
​Global News