Ukrainian family finds home in Conneaut
May 25—CONNEAUT — Approximately 18 months ago, Oleh and Daiyna Haleps and their son, Yaroslav were living in a basement with other families in northern Ukraine as bombs rained down on their community.
Now the family is safely living in Conneaut as they adjust to their new lives with the help of a church's willingness to reach out and help them start a new life.
The Haleps family was living in Chernihiv after the Russian invasion and seeking a new life as the invaders made their lives miserable.
Thousands of miles away Taylor Cleveland and his wife were discussing their interest in helping Ukrainian refugees.
Cleveland approached Corpus Christi Parish about the possibility of sponsoring a refugee family and the train was set in motion.
Oleh was a psychologist in the Ukraine and his wife as a primary school teacher. Presently he is working at a local grocery warehouse and she is working in the kitchen of a local school.
"We start a new life," he said gratefully of the support he has found through the church during a Ukrainian festival last week at the church's fellowship hall.
"I went to the parish to be a sponsor," Cleveland said.
He said a social outreach ministry of the church was excited about the project and fixed up a rental home for the family.
He said many people in the church assisted in making the move a reality. Cleveland said 30 to 40 different people worked hard to make the dream a reality and the Haleps family arrived in Conneaut in the summer of 2023.
Cleveland said the social ministry "Matthew 25" does a lot of work in the community, including a soup kitchen, utility assistance and other ministries to help those in need. He said about $10,000 was invested in the project.
"We [also] had a lot of Ukrainians from Erie churches," he said.
Cleveland said the situation in Ukraine was getting to be a huge challenge for the family as Daiyna's travel documents were not approved for a significant period of time. The family weighed whether Oleh, and his son, now 6, should come to the United States and his wife go to a refuge camp in Poland.
"He was emailing us every day (saying), 'We are getting bombed really bad,' " Cleveland said. Finally the documents were approved and the entire family was able to come to Ohio together.
Oleh Haleps said he is working hard to improve his English so he can eventually take the licensing exam to be a psychologist in the United States.
The church and the Haleps family hosted a Ukrainian festival at the parish last week to celebrate the family's culture and raise money to help others.
