TALLAHASSEE, FLa. — Three months have gone by since Denys Kharchenko and his family landed in Tallahassee.
They were seeking refuge from their home in the war-torn Donbas region of the Ukraine.
"We have settled here in Tallahassee, Florida," Kharchenko said. "It is a pretty place for our family."
Kharchenko's worries have gone from escaping danger to small things like finding a backpack for his daughter.
It wasn't easy getting here though. "They had to leave their house in the middle of the night, throw things in a car and drive until the car broke down and walk to Poland," said Richard Fillmon, the co-director of His Kids Too.
Richard and his wife Teresa Fillmon of the non-profit, His Kids Too assisted in getting at least two families to the US.
In the three months the Kharchenko family has been here, the husband-and-wife duo has assisted in getting the family a car and a driver's license for Kharchenko.
"Now, it is easier for us to go shopping, drive kids to school," Kharchenko said.
Fillmon wishes they weren't coming to Tallahassee under these circumstances. "A war that thousands and thousands of people are dying and fleeing refugees all over Europe," Fillmon said. "It's awful, but in the end, we were able to get them here."
Denys said the community in Tallahassee has treated him as one of their own.
"I didn't meet any rude people here yet. But right now, people are really kind," said Kharchenko.
