Just days after Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Nataliia Kuryliak filled a backpack with personal documents, diapers, a blanket and medicine for her 6-month-old son, Adrian. "After Feb. 24, everything changed," said Kuryliak, originally from Koropets, Ukraine."My story has a happy ending. Me and my son are safe now."
Her father, Mykhailo, nearly 60 at the time, had been summoned for possible enlistment into military service. But after a medical examination, he was told he could remain in Koropets, a 600-year-old village in western Ukraine. Her father drove them back to their apartment in Ivano-Frankivsk, and through a Ukrainian equivalent of Uber, Kuryliak arranged a ride west.
"At that time, I understood that a mom can do everything," she said."I was walking and walking and walking. We were walking maybe for five hours."Kuryliak and Adrian flew to Chicago from Warsaw in May 2022 under the U.S. Department of Homeland Security's United for Ukraine Program, which allows refugees a temporary two-year stay provided they have a supporter here who can help them financially."I loved my life in Ukraine and I miss it," she said.
"She's very friendly and open. She is willing to work with students of all ages, levels, and abilities. She's open to new ideas and personal growth as a teacher and as a musician."Kuryliak teaches students 5 years old and up Wednesdays and Thursdays, and as the school needs help in a pinch.