Providing homes for Ukrainian refugees in the Chicagoland area

OUR VISION

Ukrainian refugee families live empowered and self sufficient lives as citizens of the city of Chicago

OUR MISSION

Sweet Dome Chicago provides housing for Ukrainian refugee families who have fled their homeland due to war. Our primary function is to welcome refugee families to Chicago by finding them a place to call home and paying their rent.

In addition, we strive to help our refugee families feel at home. As ancillary projects, we collaborate with Chicagoland individuals and businesses to:

• provide furniture, home necessities, clothing, and food; 

• assist our families in finding jobs; 

• offer legal guidance with the hope of carving a path towards citizenship. 

Our goal is to come together as a community to provide the resources and tools these families need and deserve to integrate into Chicago and become self-sufficient and empowered neighbors.

A MESSAGE FROM THE FOUNDERS
Jason Fishbein + Tali Kogan 

This mission is personal to us. Tali was born and raised in Vinnytsia, Ukraine.  She has blissful memories of time spent on her grandfather’s farm and summer road trips to the coastal oasis town of Odesa. She is deeply proud of her homeland. The current situation has broken our hearts and we feel compelled to help.

We are humbled by the opportunity to form the Sweet Dome Chicago Foundation, which became an official 501(c)(3) organization in May 2022. The name of our foundation comes from the Ukrainian word for home, “дом”. Pronounced “Dome,” this word is an appropriate metaphor of the immediate protection and the life-long impact we wish to provide. 

The funds we raise will go directly towards the assistance of Ukrainian families in need. We are grateful for your interest in helping us launch our mission. We are fully committed to providing a meaningful and permanent impact on the people we will be fortunate enough to assist.

We would like to dedicate this Foundation to the loving memory of Tali’s Ukrainian grandparents, Boris Gerovich  and Aharon Kogan, who fought in the war 80 years ago to protect their people from the very sort of inhumanity which has besieged them once again today. We would also like to make a dedication to our brave ancestors who made the bold sacrifices required to put us all in the position to pay it back now.

With love, Tali and Jason

HOW YOU CAN HELP

Our primary focus is to raise funds for housing. As founders, we are donating $100,000 to launch our mission. As our community, you can join us by donating whatever amount speaks to your heart. 

We will share ancillary projects as they arise where you can donate goods or services to help our families integrate into Chicago. We anticipate needing volunteer immigration legal services, job connections, new clothing and furniture donations. To be involved, email [email protected]

Donations are tax deductible to the extent of the law under the IRS code 501(c)(3).

My name is Natalia Panchenko, we came from Ukraine. My family - me, my husband and three kids had escaped from war. We used to live near Kiev where we built ourselves a cozy house, my husband Serhiy had small but stable business. 

On a night of February 24th we woke up from sounds of explosions. Our life exploded as well. For the first 3 days we didn’t sleep at all, after that we slept on a floor for a month being constantly awoken by loud bangs. Access to food  became scarce, the alarms at night kept us awake - it is impossible to describe everything that went on. When plane crushed 2 kilometers from where we lived we decided to leave. 

We heard that boarder between USA and Mexico was open, borrowed money and flue into unknown. It took up 4 days to get to Mexico, we stayed 3 days in refugee camp and finally made it to Chicago.  

We weren’t able to rent an apartment and we moved from house to house of Ukrainian and Belorussian people who took us in and where we stayed 1-3 days. Despite unbelievable kindness of those amazing people I felt desperate. It’s a horrible feeling when you have three kids and don’t know where you going to sleep next.  

Through volunteer organization we met Irina who helped us to look for housing and then  introduced us to Tali. Tali and her family heard our story and decided to pay for our rent for 6 month to give us a chance to live normal life while we get back on our feet. I could not believe that absolute stranger would pay that huge amount that would take us few years to save if we were in Ukraine.  

Now, one month had passed, my husband has been working doing odd jobs, kids went to school, our life is slowly stabilizing.  

This message is to send out infinite gratitude to Tali and her family who in the most difficult time of our lives were near us and just simply saved us. 

If someone had told me in January 2022 that by the month of May 2022 I would change a dozen places of residence, travel all over Ukraine by car, get nauseated by planes, and be glad not to leave home, instead of traveling, which I love so much, I would just raise my eyebrows in disbelief.  

Until February 24, life went on, as usual. At the end of January, I gave birth to a beautiful baby girl and slowly recovered after the cesarean delivery with complications. At the time, our oldest 11 year old daughter was visiting my friend in Chicago and my husband returned to work in Europe after his short visit for the birth of our youngest daughter. 

On February 24, I didn’t wake up from explosions, but from my husband’s call “Get ready, the war has begun!” His words sounded ridiculous and strange, we live close to the center of Kharkiv and I didn’t hear explosions from the outskirts of the city. In 15 minutes, when my close friend called and said that she was going to pick me up so that I wouldn’t be left alone with a newborn child, the new reality settled in. I left the house with one bag of diapers and thought that everything would be fine in a day or two. I spent two weeks with my friend's family in Dergachi (12km outside of Kharkiv).  

It was horrifying to realize that what is happening is not a movie, but everything is actually happening here and now and every day it only gets worse.  Every trip to the store took three hours in line without the slightest idea if you will buy what you need. Food and goods became scarce. Exhaustion from constant lack of sleep and sitting in the basement, periodically without electricity, communications, and water, grew into an understanding that I had to somehow get out and take my baby to a safer place. It was scary to leave the city, but it was even scarier to stay. 

What seemed impossible to me a couple of weeks ago, became the only option. With little driving experience which mostly consisted of taking my daughter to and from school, 30 liters of gasoline that I could hardly get, I was terribly afraid that I would not handle the challenging road to Warsaw. I only took the most valuable things from Kharkiv - documents, a camera, and my graphics tablet. I did not understand where we would live and how long we have to leave Ukraine. My worst fear was not being able to work and support myself and my family. We traveled to Warsaw for six long days and nights. 

Terrible traffic jams from the similarly frightened people. The gasoline supply shortage was unimaginable, on one stretch of the road we stood in line for 7 hours to fill in 20 liters. This amount could not last me to get to the nearest city in which I had an arranged stay for the night. With tears in my eyes, I begged them to sell me at least ten more liters, because we spent the previous night in the car. I practically fell asleep at the wheel, since we stood rather than drove and there were no consequences. Nursing a baby while driving seemed like a crazy idea at first, but we got used to it quickly. 

It was impossible to rent a room, friends of acquaintances helped out, complete strangers from the chain of human connections.  

In Warsaw, I was greeted by a friend who already had two families staying with her, so we settled with her friends, then moved to others, at that moment it seemed that the endless series of moves would never end. 

During all this time, I was incredibly happy that the eldest daughter was stuck in Chicago. Her return flight for February 27th was cancelled and my friend took care of her as if it were her own child. By the time we discovered the option to travel to the USA through Mexico, it was clear that the war would not end quickly and we had to start life anew somewhere else. We decided to take our chances and go. 

After four flights, an unforgettable experience of crossing the border in Tijuana, which, thanks to the volunteers, went as smoothly as possible, my husband, baby and I made it to Chicago where we reunited with our oldest daughter. It would seem that here it is a “happy ending”, but in a new place there are new problems. Despite the tremendous support in everything from our friends, and friends of our friends, who kindly sheltered us for the first month and provided a loving home, the issue of permanent housing remained open. My friend Olga found Tali through social media and introduced her new project Sweet Dome Chicago as a possible assistance resource. 

At first, I was very skeptical. You see, charity work is a newer concept in the post-soviet era and in my mind there are people that need help more than I or my kids. Why would a stranger want to solve my problems? It was not easy to change the mindset from the stable average middle-class life status to now being the one asking for help to survive. 

Fortunately, I was wrong and happy to have followed the advice to connect with Tali. Tali turned out to be a very pleasant real person, sincerely empathizing with our misfortune. Her Sweet Dome Chicago foundation didn’t just help pay a considerable portion of our rent but gave us the most valuable thing - time. Time that we can now optimize looking for jobs, learning the language, filing paperwork, tending to kids and start forming a new way of life as a family in a new place. And all this with peace of mind and not a single worry that tomorrow we have to move again in endless transit to someplace "next" or will end up on the street. Having a stable and comfortable apartment that we now proudly call HOME is priceless. Thank you Tali and Jason for creating your valuable project Sweet Dome Chicago as a counter to the endless evil that is still happening in Ukraine. My family and I are forever grateful and we look forward to contributing to the project in any way we can.  

With love,
Yuliia, Vadym and the girls.

Hello. My name is Marianna. At the end of February me, my husband and our two kids had left Ukraine and seeking to Poland because of the war.  After staying a month and a half in Poland we decided to move to the USA. There we expected a better life for our family in America but it was really difficult. We had no documents, no jobs, we knew nothing. Everything was foreign and new for us. So we started asking for help. And one of our friends shared Tali’s number. We contacted and I told her everything about our situation and Tali also told us about their organization. She listened carefully and promised to help with the apartment. I just can’t describe how excited it was when she said they can pay our 3 month rent!!! We are so happy and so grateful!! It’s a huge help!! Now we can save some money and feel more confident! Just can’t believe how lucky we are! Thanks to all those people who are ready to help and support others! We appreciate it so much! And special thanks to Tali who was open, friendly, kind and supportive! Our family is so grateful!! 

Hello, I would like to tell my story of moving to the United States. My name is Inna, and I have three children: 14, 7 and 1 year old. We used to live in Ukraine, in the Chernovtsi city. We should leave when war started, because we lived in multi-storey residential building near the airport. Because of constant air raid alarms, we had to run in the bomb shelter around the clock. When I received invitation from relatives who live in US without hesitation I packed the most necessary things and came to Poland to obtain visas. 

Moving and life in Poland were really hard because the country is overcrowded with refugees. When we arrived in USA the most difficult task for us was to find accommodation. There are too little vacant housing, and prices are too high. It became an impossible task for me and my family.  

But all the keys hang not at one man's girdle. Through friends I found out there's a charity foundation, Sweet DomeChicago, that supports families from Ukraine during this difficult period. This was like a breath of fresh air, the miracle for my family.  

We were looking for an apartment over the several weeks in announcements, posters, on websites and finally we’ve found one suitable for us. We can pay for it, get squarely on our feet and resume normal life through charity Foundation Sweet DomeChicago. 

I wish you all good luck, peace, kind and sympathetic people on your life’s journey and would like to express eternal gratitude to the Sweet DomeChicago Foundation.

Dear friends, how I thank God and the people He sends us. Our journey to USA began on April 7, when we left the city of Kherson, occupied almost from the beginning of war, and the first 80 km (to Nikolaev) covered 12 hours, then trains, planes, and a detention center in Germany.  The turning point came in Spanish airport, when we were already on the verge of strength, especially my little daughter!! - and child - an 8-year-old girl - spent the night on the floor, it’s so customary there, and I sat there and sobbed the night. Unable to assess the situation objectively, - I thought: as my daughter says - she has so much Wisdom!! - so be it. That morning, the baby woke up - she is 8 years old - she was so tired!!, we talked, hugged, I say: well, let's get ready - let's go;

She: where?

I: where do you want?

She is a wise little girl - it was God!!: well, okay, let's go to that plane already transatlantic ..

The journey lasted almost 3 weeks. The border was crossed on foot.

Everyone dissuaded me, because in the USA we have no relatives, we had no friends - everything is absolutely from a blank white slate!!

But in my heart I knew - this is the only chance- to get into a country where there is so much - freedom, opportunities, but most importantly - amazing and wonderful people with big hearts and open hands. No one expected and we did not expect anything like this: welcome, warmth, desire and willingness to help, to contribute simply do not fit into any description.

1st 10 days we settled with a woman (she was found by acquaintances from the church and agreed to accept us), as it turned out, we can stay with her for only 2 weeks (because she lives in subsidies house).

In a completely amazing way, through the mothers of classmates from the daughter's class, we get to the wonderful person Ted. A man who somehow wanted to help the Ukrainians - and did it - he accepted us for an indefinite period. We are very grateful to him, because we feel calm and easy - like at home. He created such conditions for us - we do not feel like guests.

He, actively participating in our fate, found a fund that deals with helping those who escaping war arrived from Ukraine - financial assistance.

So I met an amazing woman - Tali - one of the founders of the foundation. She and her husband offered to pay the first 6 months of rent!!!!

This is a very cool gift.

So, under the rental agreement for the apartment, Ted acted as a guarantor, and Tali and Jason paid in advance for six months of living there.

From August 1st we have to move to 'own' square meters.

It's amazing. Who tell - it's hard to believe.

But thanks to people like Tali, Jason and Ted - this event will become our reality!

The 1st six months or a year is the most difficult - at this time I am just waiting to receive documents for a work permit in order to work and legally get a job, since July I have courses to deepen the English language, + driving lessons.

We are very grateful and happy. People help wholeheartedly and try to do everything they can to help newcomers.

It all worked out amazingly. We are so grateful!!

May the Loving God return you 100 fold with his grace and bounty. Blessings!!!!

 Thank so much!!  

Everything that happened and is happening is a complete miracle from God and from people - with open hearts

We have not regretted for a second that we are here.

Yes, the child is a Daughter, 8 years old - a gentle girl, a wise child, she is a very wise little person with a HUGE huge heart, which is always worried about who else to worry about: about a small child or a small animal - this is her need -

Yes, she misses - like a child - she misses the house, the dacha, the dog (who stayed with her grandmother - in Kherson, there)

Yes, this is true, but I want to believe that until April 19 next 2023, God will provide and help and we will be able to multiply and extend our legal presence and stay here in the United States

Forever and ever

May God abundantly fill your houses with bread and ‘you will need not anything’

Glory God, thank people

Amen

Oleksandra Loboiko, a 67 year-old retired nurse and cancer survivor, her daughter Sasha, 37, and her two granddaughters, Sasha, 11 & Karolina, 5, recently fled the violence in Kharkiv, Ukraine. After losing everything, they will now call Buffalo Grove, IL their home as they attempt to rebuild their lives. 

In the first few days of the war, the family sheltered in their apartment and later a dark, cold basement while bombs exploded around them. After a month, they ran out of food and their residential building took a direct hit destroying their apartment. Staying would have meant certain death. 

Their long, perilous journey as refugees took them from their home in Kharkiv to Lviv, Ukraine and then to Poland, Germany and on to Buffalo Grove. 

Family friends were able to sponsor the family and bring them to the US via Uniting for Ukraine. The girls started Tripp Elementary and Aptakisic Junior High. Sasha is waiting for her work permit, taking English courses and taking on any job she can. Oleksandra was in remission for cancer but unfortunately her rare blood cancer has recently returned. 

The sponsors started a Go Fund Me to help with an apartment. Sweet Dome Chicago came in and made an extremely generous donation. With their help the family was able to rent an apartment that will keep the girls in their current school district. 

Thank you to Tali and team! Your kindness is astounding and much appreciated. 

Hi I'm Olga from Ukraine and this is my story about fleeing from the war. On February 24, 2022, I woke up from sounds of explosions outside my bedroom window, in Kyiv...I will Never forget that terrible feeling. How will my family survive? 

I had an established life in a cozy home.  I had a good career and a life we built over the years in my lovely independent Ukraine.  For the first couple of weeks we were looking for safety in the western part of Ukraine, Near Lviv.

Then I took my 15 year old son, Anton, our cat, Lotty, drove to the Poland border and then stayed in Warsaw for awhile.  A few months later, with an eager desire for a save/normal life, we learned some close and caring people offered us help.Thank God!

IN December 2022 our plane landed in Chicago. Warm hugs were waiting for us! And now we start orgainizing our life from scratch, here in the USA.

Tali was so kind to listen to our story with care, to provide support and to make our new beginiing so much smoother.   Sweet Dome Chicago Foundation is covering the first 3 months of rent for our new apartment in the USA.  Thanks Swet Dome Chicago Foundation!  We appreciate this help very much!

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