05-21-2023 Harford Magazine - Flipbook - Page 22
Andrei Radius, 27, right, his wife Violetta, second left, and their 3-year-old son Mark sit at a table at the Fallson home of their sponsor family, Anthony Blake Clark, left,
and partner Jordan Stave.
“The party was over and the kids had
been put to bed when an app on my phone
informed us about an incoming air raid. We
all went down to the bomb shelter. We heard
six or seven explosions, and after 40 minutes,
when we opened the door, all we saw were
flames. A five-story apartment building
nearby had been hit, and 21 people died in
that attack.”
It wasn’t the first bombing the little boy had
experienced firsthand, but it was the closest.
Though the missile attack occurred nine
months ago, it traumatized Mark, now 3.
“To this day, every time he hears airplanes
flying overhead or when he hears a loud noise,
he’s afraid,” said Violetta Radius, 23. “He
Facetimes every day with my mother and he
always warns her, ‘Grandma, watch out for the
bombs.’”
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| Summer 2023 | harfordmagazine.com
The Radius family speaks limited English,
but were interviewed with the help of
translator Peter Charchalis, a Harford County
real estate agent and the son of Ukrainian
immigrants.
U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration
founded Uniting for Ukraine in April 2022,
two months after the Russian invasion.
The new program significantly streamlined
the process by which people in need of
humanitarian aid could gain admittance to
the U.S. These visitors, known as “parolees,”
can enter the country on an emergency basis
for two years.
Previously, those seeking to enter the U.S.
either had to obtain a short-term visa in their
homeland or prove they faced persecution due
to political or religious reasons — a process
that on average takes more than 18 months,
according to Ruben Chandrasekar, acting
director of the International Rescue Country’s
Mid-Atlantic region.
“‘Uniting for Ukraine’ provides a pathway
for vulnerable Ukrainians to enter the U.S.
and be supported by everyday Americans who
want to help people seeking our protection,”
Chandrasekar said, while noting the need
for similar programs to help those living in
other nations beset by terrorism and political
instability.
“We hope alternative pathways to enter
the U.S. are extended to populations in other
unstable countries where very vulnerable
people are living,” Chandrasekar said. “There
is a huge appetite to help by well-meaning
Americans who understand the importance of
having a fresh start.
Instead of working through government