BROOKLYN PARK, Minn. (FOX 9) – During the last month, the Holiuk household has been settling into a brand new life in Minnesota, even attempting their hand on the quintessentially American sport of baseball.

However since February, issues have been something however enjoyable and video games. After the struggle broke out in Ukraine, the household of 5 escaped from their house in hard-hit Donetsk, making their strategy to Poland and ultimately connecting with Alight, a Minnesota-based humanitarian reduction group.

“It was very troublesome to go away all the pieces behind all the pieces that you simply construct up for years, in addition to buddies and different relations,” mentioned Vadim Holiuk.

Vadim, Luibov, and their three women not too long ago grew to become the primary Ukrainian refugees to be welcomed to the North Star State via a brand new program by the non-profit. The objective is to welcome 99 extra households to Minnesota with the assistance of sponsors like Mark and Sharon Norlander.

“They’re popping out of a horrible state of affairs, however they can discover some normalcy right here,” mentioned Mark.

“They’ve to decide on a house, select a college, get a driver’s license… they must do it ,” mentioned Sharon.

Over the previous couple of weeks, the Nordlanders have been serving to the household with issues like getting Social Safety numbers and registering their daughters for college.

Vadim says he can lastly sleep peacefully realizing they’re all protected.

“(We) are grateful for all the pieces that this nation has completed to Ukrainians up to now,” mentioned Vadim.

The main focus now could be discovering a everlasting house right here and getting acclimated to life within the U.S. Their daughters cannot wait to go trick-or-treating for the primary time and have already got their Halloween costumes picked out – zombies!