Hugs, toothy smiles and cheers greeted Inna Yermolenko and Boris Khodorkovsky as they arrived at the Symphony Senior Living Retirement Home in Ottawa on Monday morning. Dozens of vivid yellow and blue signs and balloons fluttered in the air, held by residents who welcomed the Ukrainian couple as the youngest members of their family. “Welcome home,” they said over and over. “It was a big, big surprise. It was so moving,” said Yermolenko of the unexpected welcome party on the day of their move. “We were not expecting that”. “Just speechless,” Khodorkovsky said. CLOCKS A couple was moved by the hospitality of the people of Orleans:
Ukrainians fleeing war welcome new home in Ottawa retirement community
Inna Yermolenko and Boris Khodorkovsky were greeted with signs, balloons and hugs when they arrived at the Symphony Senior Living Retirement Home in Orleans, which will be their rental home for six months as new lives begin in Canada. The couple and their three children escaped the Russian invasion of their country. An estimated 3,200 Ukrainian refugees who fled the war have already landed in the nation’s capital as a network of settlement offices and volunteer groups helps them familiarize themselves with their new communities. And for the Orleans suburb of Ottawa, the decision to welcome the family was easy. Christine Turner, vice president of regional operations at Symphony Senior Living, said the nursing home had an apartment available. The residents, their families and the wider community donated furniture and helped prepare the space. “It was really fun,” he said. They offer the family the apartment for free for six months. “We hope it might be comfortable enough for them to stay here with us later.” A resident holds a blue sign welcoming a Ukrainian family to their new home for the next six months. (Christian Milette / Radio Canada)
New principles
“It will be so useful for us, I can not express,” said Yermolenko. “We lost everything and we start from scratch here. So this is a very, very, very big support for us.” Khodorkovsky, who said he studied in Canada as a student more than two decades ago, said he could not express enough gratitude. “I left when I was a student. That’s how I spent my whole life in Ukraine … Now I start here from scratch, credit scores, everything,” he said. The couple had a toy business in Ukraine. They hope to eventually open another business in Canada, but acknowledge that it will take time. “It takes a lot of effort, time and money … So that will help us get organized at some point, just to move forward on our own,” Khodorkovsky said. Khodorkovsky shakes hands with a nursing home resident during a surprise welcome party. (Christian Milette / Radio Canada) Resident Patricia Nelson said she felt grateful and blessed to be attending the welcome party. “Because they are people like me. We are all human. And I’m glad we can help them,” he said. Pierrette Woods said she is proud to be a member of the community, especially on a day like this. “I’m sure everyone here will be willing to help them. We just have to be careful not to overwhelm them because they have gone through horrible things in their country.”
