The project began with establishing communication between Tonya Graham, the mayor of Ashland and Volodymyr Ribalkin, the interim mayor of Sviatohirsk. They spoke by zoom for the first time on May 30, 2023. Mayor Ribalkin described the extensive damage done to his town by Russian shelling and a subsequent occupation for 7 months. He also gave us a breakdown of what was needed to restore critical infrastructure and begin the process of rebuilding the town. Our priority was to identify equipment and supplies that would be useful and purchase them  through our partner, Ukraine Aid International, rather than send money to track the usage of our donations and avoid corruption.

 

Here  in Ashland, a steering committee was formed to promote the sister city initiative.  The board presently has 6 members: Jim Nagel, Ben Stott, Paul Sheldon, Louise Paré, Paul Heard, Betsy Bishop, and Nikita Bazarsky. There is also a larger advisory group made up of volunteers who have skills and expertise to share and a commitment to support Ukraine.

 

On June 20, 2023, the Ashland City Council unanimously passed the resolution to adopt Sviatohirsk as our sister city with the aim of helping it, and by extension, all of Ukraine recover from the devastation and horror of the Russian invasion.

 

Since that time, ASAPAshland (the new name of our sister city initiative) has held two large fundraising concerts and raised enough money to purchase a large dump truck, assist in the installation of a large water filtration system, and do a pilot window restoration project. Our current project is to promote and help finance a micro-loan credit bank in Sviatohirsk to provide low cost loans for citizens to rebuild their small businesses. This we hope will provide jobs and essential services and be a key factor in restoring Sviatohirsk so that displaced town members will be attracted to return and participate in its rebirth. Our work in helping Sviatohirsk is also a template for other cities and NGOs looking for practical ways to help Ukraine.