I truly hope they flourish here. They are a gift to our community.”

Barbara Adolphe, NVN director

Roman Omelchenko and his family arrived in Mt. Airy one year ago after fleeing the war in Ukraine, leaving the capital of Kyiv where they had lived for 7 years.

The move to the U.S. was the third time, Omelchenko, his wife, Natalia, and the couple’s 11-year-old daughter Oleksandra, had relocated as refugees.  They left their home city of Donetsk when Russian forces took control of the city in 2014. At first, they fled to the town of Lyman in the Donetsk region, but the family left there to settle in Kyiv after troops looted and destroyed their house in Lyman. 

"We have four children, and they all have the official status of children affected by the war in Ukraine,” Natalia Omelchenko said. “They know what the horrors of war are. They have not had a home for 10 years; we were forced to constantly move, change kindergartens and schools."

In 2022, a full-scale war began, and all regions of Ukraine became dangerous. The eldest son remained in Kyiv, working and volunteering, helping those affected by the war in Ukraine. Roman, Natalia and their three daughters left first for Western Ukraine, then to Spain. 

From there, the eldest daughter left almost immediately for the United Kingdom; the middle daughter for Ireland to study. In Spain, Roman and Natalia, who are both physicians and their daughter Oleksandra, waited for travel authorization to leave for the U.S.

 “In Spain, we always felt like foreigners,” Roman said. “But in the U.S. it is not such a problem because this is a country of immigrants. No one here says you're a foreigner or a stranger in this country.”

To come to the U.S. under the U4U (United for Ukraine) program, the Omelchenkos had to find a U.S. resident who would officially invite them. It took several months, but they found one on a website for refugees. Robert Knowlton, a Mt. Airy resident and member of Northwest Village Network (NVN), volunteered.

Knowlton, it turns out, was very empathetic to the Omelchenkos’ plight because of his own family's history. 

“In the 1800s my mother's grandparents had fled to Canada as Jews who were persecuted in what is now southern Ukraine,” he said. “I was born in Montreal in February of 1956. When I was an infant, my mother read an article in a Montreal newspaper that said refugees fleeing the Hungarian revolution had arrived in Montreal and were looking for people to take in families. My mother told my father, 'Jim, I'm going downtown to pick up a family.' And so, a couple with a toddler arrived and stayed with us for six months.”

When the war broke out in Ukraine, Knowlton felt a duty to help. He even used a small inheritance from his mother to aid in the effort and honor her memory.

In Mt. Airy, Dr. Joseph Price, a beloved neighborhood family doctor, agreed to rent a home/office property on Sedgwick Street to the family. But when Price died, the house was sold, and the family moved to another Mt. Airy location. 

“We only had 450 Euros (about $500) to our names when we arrived in the U.S.” Roman said. “Robert Knowlton was very kind and helpful.”

Roman, a family physician, and Natalia, a gynecologist/endocrinologist and mammalogist, both with almost 30 years of medical experience, are currently unable to practice in the U.S. 

“We have to pass three difficult exams and pass residency here first,” Natalia said. On average, according to the experience of Ukrainian and other foreign doctors who came to the U.S., preparation for each exam takes a year and a half.  To practice independently, the couple estimates that it will take up to nine years to meet the requirements, but they hope to achieve that goal.

“We both speak Ukrainian, Russian, English and Spanish. We both work with patients of all ages,” Roman said. “but Natalia particularly specializes in the prevention and treatment of health problems in women over 40.”

The Omelchenkos are grateful to all who have helped them to start a new life in the U.S. including Jeff Meade, at St. Martin-in-the-Fields Episcopal Church in Chestnut Hill. Meade connected the family with the director at Our Mother of Consolation School, which welcomed Oleksandra graciously and made it possible for her to thrive.

Roman has been doing some interpreting for Ukrainians who have been patients in local hospitals and the couple plans to help with qualified home care for those who need it, accompany and represent patients during visits to the doctor, in urgent care, emergency room and in childbirth.

The NVN community, which Roman has joined, stepped up with English-as-Second-Language support and other needs, and another local resident donated a car to the family seven months after they arrived in Mt. Airy. “It does take a community to welcome and support a refugee family,” Knowlton said.

Roman and his family “have done everything right,” said Barbara Adolphe, director of NVN. “I truly hope they flourish here. They are a gift to our community.”

For more information, email roomelch777@gmail.com. Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com.