Yana
Yana

Yana is the FEMA Building Science Lead based in New York City. She is dedicated to helping communities in crisis situations and has been involved in efforts aimed at promoting post-disaster resilience across the nation, including recovery efforts in Puerto Rico, the US Virgin Islands, and the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands.

Prior to her position at FEMA, Yana worked on disaster risk reduction projects in the Philippines, served as a Preparedness Specialist with the American Red Cross, and participated in the development of a handbook on child-responsive urban planning at UNICEF.

Andre
Andre

Andre is certified as an interpreter/translator for the agency participated in the New York City crisis after Sandy. By helping the local Russian/Ukrainian speaking community in the processing of recovery and with paper work for people with limited English.

Andre works for the largest social services organization in New York, the Human Resources Administration. He is holds a position of a Senior Investigator, and has extensive background in social work providing direct service to clients.

Andre speaks fluent English, Ukrainian and Russian and understands Polish.

Galina
Galina

Galina is a “gatekeeper” who meet newly arrived families, and she identifies who needs immediate assistance with groceries and shelter.

Galina is a physician from Luhansk.  She became an internally displaced person from the Donbas region in 2014 and moved to Kyiv. She rented an apartment there and gave shelter to other displaced people who escaped from “LNR” (Luhansk People Republic), mostly women with children. Her son Sergyi is now serving on the front line, as a plastic a surgeon for wounded soldiers. In March 2022 Galina moved to Warsaw.

Maria
Maria

Maria works for the largest landlord in New York City responsible for affordable housing of approximately 350,000 residents. As a quality assurance specialist, Maria is advocating daily on behalf of tenants to improve living conditions and assist in crisis situations. Ranok Initiative welcomes Maria as a volunteer who is traveling to Warsaw to assist refugees in November.

Pilip
Pilip

Ranok Initiative welcomes a new volunteer https://www.facebook.com/filip.gavrishev who will travel to Warsaw to assist refugees in January!

Pilip is the founder of INeedHelpBY – the non-profit organization that provides emergency food assistance in Belarus for political prisoners and their families, for those who lost income due to their political activities. He is also leading the project INeedHelpUA, which provides food assistance to Ukrainian troops and civil people inside Ukraine.

Since 2020 Pilip has been deeply involved in assisting Eastern European immigrants on different levels of the immigration process – from paperwork routine to assimilation into American life.

Pilip earned his Medical Degree in Belarus, currently lives in Tampa, Florida, and works at Moffitt Cancer Center. Pilip fluently speaks English, Belarusian, and Russian; he understands Ukrainian and Polish.