LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A group of mothers want to do what they can to show support for Ukraine.
They're fighting for emergency host status, so they can house children from Ukraine.
It's been two months since Sheryl Soendlin and Barbara Hughes have been able to hug Ukrainian children that they consider family; they hosted them for 12 weeks last year.
"We're just praying that we get the chance to hug them again,” Hughes said.
"It was a really great experience for our family as well getting to love on him and realizing how blessed we truly are just by family,” Soendlin said.
Both mothers formed a strong bond with the children from soccer games to state fairs to even celebrating Christmas with Ukrainian traditions. They remember the first time they had to send them home to Ukraine.
"We knew it was going to be hard,” Hughes said. “I had no idea how hard it was going to be."
That was just the first time; when they took the kids to the airport after Christmas, they felt even worse.
"There were rumblings even then, Soendlin said. “When it was time to leave us and walk through the gate, the sad face that we got and our little boy smiles all the time."
Megan Wade is a Louisville mother of four Ukrainian children; she said she can't imagine how hard it must be for the mothers.
"A war in the country where your kids are is just unimaginable,” Wade said.
She said it's also hard to imagine her kids not having a country to go home to - their culture is gone.
"They are fighting so that my kids don't lose their culture and to me that's - I don't think I'll ever be able to do enough to repay them,” Wade said.
She said that's why it's even more important to keep that culture intact, especially now. It's something Soendlin and Hughes plan to do, but first, they want them safe.
"They have families that already love them. They need to make this emergency hosting a top priority,” Hughes said.
They said ultimately, they do plan on adopting the children.
Soendlin and Hughes said they have a meeting already planned with Senator Braun and they've reached out to other lawmakers. They said they're in constant communication with other local and national groups that want to see emergency host status become available.
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