Rachael Meets With Lviv Mayor in Ukraine: "I will not abandon these people"

On her most recent trip to Ukraine, Rachael shared an emotional visit with the mayor of Lviv, Andriy Sadovyi. During their meeting, they spoke about Andriy's dedication to his organization, 'Unbroken'.

“The mayor stayed hours late with us in the center of Lviv so that he could share his presentation for 'Unbroken,' a program he’s been working on for almost a solid decade now,” she said. "It's a plan to unify a huge medical center and marry it to some specialized housing to treat children who are victims of the war, and to psychologically treat people of every age for PTSD and the psychological ramifications of losing their productive, happy lives and being displaced," Rach shares.

“There are also trauma centers and a state-of-the-art orthopedic center,” she said, “and a maternity center for moms expecting newborns and for all the folks who've lost limbs — and rehab centers for plastic surgery specialists to held re-build and reconstruct war-torn humans.”

"It's been Andriy's passion for a decade to commit everyone and everything to 'Unbroken'. [Ultimately] it provides housing that is understanding of all the special needs of the people who have to heal," she adds.

"We brought back more supplies for the hospital, more tourniquet kits, more everything," says Rach to the mayor, updating him on her progress in helping since her last visit.

"I tell everyone that I meet, the strongest people I've ever known are Ukrainians. It fills my soul to come here, I love it so much. It makes all my work worthwhile. It makes my life worth living. It really does. It's so beautiful in here," Rachael tells Andriy.

"What I love about this project [Unbroken] is that it's everything from housing and mental care to the physical needs to rebuild," she adds. It's a project that is truly essential to the wellbeing of the Ukrainian people and one that we'd hope everyone prioritize helping, especially going into the cold winter months.

"I want everyone to keep Ukraine in their heart and mind. That's why, this time we needed to bring cameras so that we can try to keep the conversation on everyone's lips, minds and their hearts. It makes a huge difference just to keep people talking, thinking and speaking about it. It makes a huge difference," Rach explains.

“I come here as often as I can because I'm compelled to. I feel that the people of Ukraine are defending everyone that believes in democracy. I will not abandon these people [of Ukraine],” she says. "I will keep going there until I’m dead or the game is over."

HOW YOU CAN HELP AT HOME

If you feel as moved as Rach to help the people in Ukraine, here are the organizations where you can donate:

World Central Kitchen

Unbroken
*Power is often off in Ukraine and systems can be down, so please try again if your donation does not go through the first time

Ukrainian Congress Committee of America