Two Johnstown natives help Ukrainian refugees in Poland

May 28—JOHNSTOWN, Pa. — Two Johnstown natives joined an international relief effort by spending a week in Oswiecim, Poland, renovating dilapidated apartments to house Ukrainian refugees.

Shelby Mastovich and Allison Kaharick work for the Pittsburgh Technology Council, which has been collecting donations through its member companies and sending supplies to Ukraine since the first week of the war with Russia. The council connected with the nonprofit One Humanity Institute in Poland and joined its effort to create the One Humanity Institute House of Hope in an old bakery.

Both women said the experience was rewarding.

"I feel really grateful to be part of the program," Kaharick said. "I think it is an experience like no other that I will ever have. I feel really hopeful that this house will be able to provide safe refuge for people who have to leave the country with their children."

Mastovich called it a "really extraordinary experience."

Kaharick, who graduated from Bishop McCort High School in 2002 and from the University of Pittsburgh in 2006, was in Oswiecim May 13 to 20, joining other volunteers doing some final cleaning before new furniture arrived.

Mastovich, a 2010 Greater Johnstown High School graduate and a Penn State alumna, was there May 13 through Friday with volunteers taking delivery of the furniture and continuing to clean the long-vacant apartments.

The Johnstown women joined other volunteers — including local and international volunteers — scrubbing grout, tiles and floors and removing old furniture and carpet to prepare for new furnishings.

Poland's recycling laws are strict, requiring all trash to be carefully separated into specific categories before it can be picked up. Volunteers spent an entire day sorting waste that was removed from the apartments.

During a phone interview after the two truckloads of Ikea furniture was delivered, Mastovich said, "I'm here assembling a bunch of Ikea furniture, and the instructions are all in Polish, so that has been an interesting experience."

The delivery workers were the first Ukrainians Mastovich encountered in Oswiecim.

As they learned what the House of Hope project was all about, they were elated and said they were extremely grateful for the U.S. support for their homeland.

"One told me I was the very first person that he ever met in real life from the United States," Mastovich said.

Both women met Ukrainian refugees who were applying for temporary housing in the House of Hope. They were currently staying in a monastery some 40 minutes away from Oswiecim. They had fled the war zone with their sons while their husbands continued defending their homeland.

"Both their sons want to play hockey and Oswiecim is known for being a big hockey town in Poland," Mastovich said.

One of the refugees, Svitlana Burtova, stopped by the next day with a gift of chocolates for Mastovich's birthday.

"I can't believe the kindness, especially from someone who is in the middle of a crisis living abroad while her husband is fighting the war in their hometown, Kharkiv," Mastovich said.

Kaharick also found time to spend with the refugees.

"We had the opportunity to eat lunch with them, she said. "It was a pretty humbling experience to sit down and have a homemade Ukrainian meal offered to us by people who had fled their country and had nothing. To be able to share a meal with us was a really unique and almost surreal experience."

The building being transformed into the House of Hope was home to a bakery operated by several families and dating back before World War II. During the war, it was used to make bread for the prisoners at the Nazi concentration camp, Auschwitz, which is also located in Oswiecim.

Mastovich was able to visit the Auschwitz Memorial and Museum.

"When I walked through these gates," she wrote with a photo on Facebook, "I literally felt sick and thought I would throw up — probably because I knew a good bit about the terrible things that happened there. The experience walking through the barracks, to the execution wall, a gas chamber and crematorium, torture cells, and ghastly artifacts stolen from victims, was truly harrowing."

The most recent operators of the bakery donated the building to One Humanity five years ago and the nonprofit launched plans for a community center and cafe to be named OH Bakery. Plans included space for gatherings, a social media center, library and outdoor gardens, all designed to promote peace and unity.

With the war escalating, the refugee crises led One Humanity to shift gears, posting this announcement on its website: "We are turning the One Humanity Bakery into the HOUSE OF HOPE! In this time of turmoil and high uncertainty manifested by this war, we are inspired by the generous move of Poland to open hearts and homes for those fleeing war and destruction in Ukraine. With over 3 million refugees, housing is a crisis. With your help, we can do our part."

Pittsburgh Technology Council got involved through its connection with Brother's Brother Foundation when One Humanity reached out for donations of money and supplies. The technology council and the foundation have been working together since the first weeks of the war when they raised $2 million and delivered 15 pallets of medical goods to Ukraine.

Those who want to volunteer or donate to the House of Hope project may contact Kaharick at akaharick@pghtech.org. She is the council's senior director for major programs.