After four years of organizing, fundraising, and hands-on support, the Lexington- based group Helping Ukrainian Families has completed its mission.
With the families now self-sufficient and pursuing their own legal paths to remain in the United States, founder Jerry Nay said the organization’s role is no longer needed. “All of the five entities are self-sufficient,” Nay said in a recent interview. “That was one of the main things we were trying to achieve. And we have done that.”
The effort, originally launched in 2022 as Hosting Ukrainian Families, brought four families fleeing war to Rockbridge County. Over time, the group expanded its focus to include legal support, ultimately helping 16 individuals stabilize their lives in the U.S.
Some have since relocated to be closer to family or broader Ukrainian communities, but all remain connected to the support network that first helped them arrive.
The decision to formally close came after a March 3 gathering at Grace Episcopal Church, where volunteers and participants reflected on the project.
“We exchanged well wishes and good feelings about a job well done,” Nay said. “Extremely well done. I would say, based on what I know, everybody is happy about the outcome.”
Following that meeting, HUF leaders reviewed the organization’s remaining funds — approximately $18,000 — and voted to distribute the money among the families and one additional participant who had played a key role in the effort.
“We were very careful,” Nay said. “By committee action, we distributed the leftover money quite equitably and fairly.”
That additional participant, Kristina Lozinskaya, a Belarusian graduate of Washington and Lee University, served as the group’s executive assistant and continues to assist with immigration-related efforts. Nay described her as “an amazing, amazing person” whose contributions went far beyond her formal role.
While the group initially focused on housing, transportation, and day-to-day needs, its later phase centered on legal pathways for remaining in the United States.
With the help of an immigration attorney funded through HUF’s second major fundraising effort, the families are now pursuing a mix of asylum claims and extensions of Temporary Protected Status, depending on their individual circumstances.
“All of them are now working directly with legal entities,” Nay said. “That, combined with their self-sufficiency, is exactly why HUF is no longer needed.”
Legal costs remain significant, in some cases reaching $10,000 or more, but those efforts are now being handled independently.
From the beginning, Nay emphasized that HUF was never a one-person operation. The effort grew into a network of 142 volunteers across 15 committees, handling everything from fundraising and housing to transportation and cultural support.
“This was a community event,” Nay said. “You don’t do any of this by yourself.”
The project itself began with a phone call from News-Gazette publisher Matt Paxton, who encouraged Nay to take on the effort based on his earlier work helping a family from the Congo. Nay then reached out to local leaders, including Washington and Lee professor Alexandra Brown, and convened an early planning meeting at Lexington City Hall that included city and county officials.
“It worked like clockwork,” he said.
Over the course of the project, the group raised more than $300,000 to support the families’ arrival and an additional $50,000 for legal assistance.
For Nay, the success of the effort is best measured not in dollars or logistics, but in the lives it changed. He pointed to a recent message from one of the individuals HUF supported, written in English after just a few years in the country: “We constantly think about you and your wife and tell everyone we know how our sponsors took care of us as if we were their own children. We received a lot of love and support from you. When we came here, we were very depressed by the war, but you and your whole team helped us get rid of these problems and this sadness …We have already started applying for the extension of our status. I have already sent 80% of the documents. I am already finishing the application. We love you infinitely.”
“That is the victory,” Nay said.
Though HUF has formally concluded its work, Nay said the relationships built over the past three years will continue.
“With the closing of our books, we open a new chapter of lifelong friendships,” he said.
At 93, Nay has no plans to fully step away from service. Instead, he hopes others will take up similar efforts in the future.
“When you retire, don’t retire,” he said. “Do something for other people. You’ve been taking in your whole life. Now it’s time to give out.”
Reflecting on the experience, he added, “You give an ounce, and you get back a pound. It’s just amazing.”
