Six months of free accommodation in Vancouver

For six months, Ukrainian immigrants can live for free in apartments in new buildings in Vancouver thanks to the Canadian organization Maple hope foundation. A family from Sumy Region, Maria Ivakhnova, along with her three children, Artem, Sofia and Vlad, came to Vancouver on April 19 and showed the Voice of America their apartment.

“Here we have a stove, we have a bread maker, we have a microwave, a dishwasher, a refrigerator. Everything works well. Basically, we had everything in the kitchen, and we had the appliances, we just added a microwave, bought an electric kettle and a toaster, – Maria gives a tour of the apartment. – I like the fact that there is a lot of space here, a lot of light, a lot of windows.”

The living room also had all the necessary furniture, except for the TV, “there was one, two sofas, an armchair, a table, chairs, all chests of drawers,” says the immigrant. In the room where the sons live – 14-year-old Vlad and 13-year-old Artem – there were already “two beds, a table, a chest of drawers and many things for children, there was stationery, there were books, some things, some clothes.”

The boys say: although they also lived in one room in Ukraine, they had more space. “Before the war, our room was renovated, a large desk and a closet for books and lessons were installed. Then we had two beds, a door to the balcony and a large closet for clothes,” says Vlad.

Maria says that the first 6 months for this accommodation do not pay at all. Now every month they will pay the rent from the aid they receive from the Canadian province as Ukrainian refugees: “Provincial aid is two thousand a month. These funds are enough to pay for our apartment, and then we are already saving little by little, but I hope that soon we will work and everything will be fine.”

Volunteers of the charitable organization Maple Hope foundation helped to find housing, which, after the influx of immigrants, was looking for either Canadian families or private developers who would agree to house the arrived Ukrainians. One such developer is James Howard. It is in his apartment that Maria lives with her sons.

“We had a few rentals that were still available in buildings that we had just completed, and we were sitting on the couch and seeing these incredibly moving stories on the news, and we realized we could house a few people. And all that what we have to do is not rent out several apartments,” says Howard. “We contacted the Mapple Hope Foundation, they told us that there are many families who have applied to come to Canada, and we promised them, that we will leave two houses to begin with.”

James also delivered furniture to the residence and left clothes and toys for the families.

In total, volunteers housed 70 families in Vancouver and the surrounding area. Maria says: she is incredibly grateful to the volunteers and the developer, because they helped not only with housing, but also with money and scholarships for boys’ clubs. Now the woman is looking for a job. Her husband remains in Sumy Oblast.