Cathy Dobson 
Lisa Matlovich can’t watch television news anymore.
“If I see what’s happening in the Ukraine, I don’t sleep,” she says.
Instead, her 18-year-old son Ben will often read news articles to her. That makes it a little easier to take.
The Russian invasion had just started in February when Matlovich got online and offered to open her home to a displaced Ukrainian.
“I had helped when the Unitarian Fellowship brought a Syrian family here in 2015 and I learned a lot from that experience,” said the semi-retired nutritionist. “Now, when I see what’s happening in the Ukraine, I feel guilty for living a life of freedom and privilege.
“It feels like I can’t do enough to help them.”
So many people replied to her offer to host that she momentarily panicked, then called St. George’s Ukrainian Catholic Church in Sarnia and spoke with Father Bohdan Winnicki.
“I just really love that guy,” she said. “I’d never met him before but he said he was getting a lot of requests for help too.
“So we started working our buns off together.”
Outreach to displaced Ukrainians, vetting potential hosts in Sarnia-Lambton, finding funds to fly them here, and wading through all the official paperwork, proved to be a huge job.
Matlovich worked 10 to 12-hour days for weeks. But she wasn’t alone.
She was in touch with a small group of like-minded Sarnians who pulled together and have ultimately formed the Lambton County Ukraine Relief Group. Sarnian Johnathan Verroen voluntarily works with the group in Poland and the Ukraine to help families fleeing the war and inform them about Sarnia-Lambton. Others like Matlovich in Sarnia help once they arrive by providing household items, groceries and practical needs like medical care, school and jobs. Dr. Cassandra Taylor plays a key role by finding ways to finance flights out of Europe.
“She gets the people here and I help find the hosts,” said Matlovich. “It became huge very quickly."
So far, about 150 Ukrainians have arrived thanks to the Lambton County Ukraine Relief Group. At least 11 more are expected before Christmas. Matlovich said there are slightly fewer applicants this fall and she believes that may be because the Ukrainians have regained territory recently and the tide could be turning in the war.
“But I suspect that when the colder weather comes and people don’t have housing or food, we’ll get even more applicants,” she said.
On the whole, Sarnians have readily opened their homes, their hearts and their pocket books to resettle Ukrainian refugees.
However Matlovich said there are some misconceptions she wants to correct.
“I really want it out there that men can leave the Ukraine for valid reasons. If they have more than three kids; if they or their wife is disabled; if they are single parents or university students.
“They are not cowards. They have legitimate reasons for leaving.”
She is concerned that women may soon be banned from leaving the Ukraine and forced to join the military if not enough male soldiers are available.
Matlovich said she wanted to go to the Ukraine in September to “be more hands on,” but she has health challenges that prevent her from travelling overseas.
For now, she’ll use her expertise to track down visas, vet host homes, deliver donated goods and make Ukrainians feel more at home.
A Christmas party for about 100 Ukrainian newcomers will be held Nov. 25 and a second one is planned in December for the rest. Donations are still being collected for the second party.
For more information, visit Lambton County Ukraine Relief Group or Save Ukraine-Sarnia and Lambton County on Facebook.
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