Five-year-old Ebi guided her water-laden paintbrush along the page, knitting together the top of a heart as her mom, Vira, shared their story in the living room of their apartment. The Christmas tree was up, the air was thick with chebureki, a savory pastry.

Just several years ago it was hard to envision a scene like this. Fleeing the war in Ukraine, then an abusive partner, Vira and Ebi found themselves cramped in a women’s shelter. There were waitlists for longer-term support, and Vira found herself skeptical of many offering help.

“I was just thinking, I’m on my own. I’ll just need to survive on my own with my daughter. This is the reality,” Vira said in Russian, with the help of her former Hopelink case manager Donata Brenner as an interpreter. “Everything was very stressful.”

In a

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