About me

It was loud, and I felt it in my chest that time. I wondered how close that rocket explosion was to my apartment in Ukraine. It felt very close. Certainly closer than the previous night’s bombing. My little pillow-fort in the coat closet might have protected me from flying glass, but nothing stronger than that. Still, I felt safer in my “fort” even if I understood completely that my comfort was merely psychological, not physical. From experience I knew that we had about another 45 minutes of bombing to endure. For some reason it always ended at about 3 AM.  Another explosion. This one further away. It’s impossible to be happy about its increased distance from my apartment. Odesa is filled with my friends and coworkers. Somewhere, someone’s life has changed forever. 
For the past 13 years I have visited, lived in, and worked in Ukraine. Currently I am the Executive Director and Co-Founder of the Ukraine Assistance Organization. We provide in-home and in-village healthcare to Ukrainians. My life is split between South Carolina and Ukraine. When the full scale invasion started I had to do more to help Ukraine. I am not a doctor or nurse. I have no medical background. Our organization started by delivering food at the beginning of the invasion. But it was immediately clear that what people needed was medical care. So, without any background in non-profits or healthcare UAO (Ukraine Assistance Organization) was born. Now we are the most respected mobile healthcare provider NGO in Southern Ukraine.