05-21-2023 Harford Magazine - Flipbook - Page 24
Mark Radius plays as dog Inga lounges near by. Mark and his parents left Ukraine to escape the war by finding a sponsor family in Fallston.
and figured that they had room to spare.
“The war was a sobering thing,” Stave said.
“I wanted to do something beyond writing
a check to relief organizations. I got to
Googling and kind of stumbled upon Uniting
for Ukraine.
“We originally said we were going to
sponsor one person, and that’s it,” Stave said.
“But then we saw the Radius’ family picture
on Facebook, and it was all three of them.
It’s hard to say no when small children are
involved.”
The Radius family is determined to soon
become independent. Andrei is working two
jobs — full time on a factory assembly line
in Anne Arundel County and part time in
construction— because he and Violetta hope
to save enough money to rent an apartment of
their own.
For now, Violetta is staying home with
Mark. But she hopes to soon find a job as
well; Stave and Clark recently submitted
an application to sponsor Mark’s greatgrandmother, who would relocate to Fallston
and provide child care.
“Jordan and Blake opened their home to
help a family from a foreign country that they
didn’t know,” Violetta said. “They had no
ulterior motive. When we arrived, everything
had been prepared for us. There were beds,
children’s toys and books, everything to make
us feel at home.”
Since the couple lacks a credit history and
speaks little English, finding an apartment
24
| Summer 2023 | harfordmagazine.com
has proved daunting. Violetta said they have
applied for several and been turned down.
A neighbor, Mary Swann, 81, has been
helping by visiting church groups on the
family’s behalf, driving them to look at
prospective apartments, making phone calls.
“It’s been very frustrating,” Swann said. “We
live in our beautiful little Monkton world,
and to see what a struggle it is to come to this
country under the best of circumstances has
been eye-opening.”
According to the aid organization
Welcome.US, the cities with the greatest
number of displaced Ukrainians are New
York, Chicago, Seattle, Philadelphia, Los
Angeles, and Miami.
Because Ukrainian visitors can enter the
U.S. by multiple methods (with a visa, by
receiving official refugee status and through
private sponsorships), it is difficult to
calculate precisely how many have settled in
Maryland.
Brian Schleter, a spokesman for the
Maryland Department of Human Services,
said that since the Russian invasion,
between 400 and 500 displaced Ukrainians
have registered for state relief programs
that provide services ranging from health
insurance to youth playgroups to English
language classes.
Since not all foreign visitors need extra
help, he estimated that between 1,000 and
1,500 displaced Ukrainians have resettled in
Maryland. Most are clustered in Baltimore
and Montgomery counties — relatively
affluent areas near public transportation hubs
where residents have the financial means to
offer support.
In the quiet of the Harford County
countryside, young Mark is finally starting
to relax. These days, he worries less about
bombs and more about getting scratched by a
neighbor’s cat. His parents wish their son had
more chances to play with kids his own age,
but that will come once he enters preschool
this fall.
As grateful as Andrei and Violetta Radius
are to their U.S. hosts, the couple still think
of Ukraine as their home. They hope to
eventually return — but only after they can be
assured that their country once again is safe.
It’s also possible that their U.S. status as
parolees will be extended before it expires in
September 2024 — as it already has for the
earliest wave of displaced Ukrainians.
“It’s complicated,” Violetta said. “We don’t
want to return to war. We want to return to
peace. But, we don’t know how long that will
take.”
To find out more about relief programs
for displaced Ukrainians in Maryland,
visit the Maryland Office for Refugees and
Asylees at dhs.maryland.gov/marylandoffice-for-refugees-and-asylees or the
Baltimore Office of the International Rescue
Committee at rescue.org/united-states/
baltimore-md