RANCHO CORDOVA, CA (MPG) - Oksana Melnychuk is a soft spoken and kind woman with big ambition. Besides holding down several professional positions, she is also one of the founders of Hands of Support – an offshoot ministry of a local church aimed at assisting Ukrainian refugees. Unfortunately, the group’s progress was recently halted when their fireworks stand was robbed over the 4th of July week.

With the Russia-Ukraine conflict continuing, the Sacramento region has become home to thousands of refugees in recent months. Melnychuk, who is herself Ukrainian, is part of a team of volunteers who were looking for a way to help.

“We needed food, all the supplies, everything,” she stated. “We provide kids camp, youth camp, and food ministry.”

The group was also providing another important thing – housing. Using a spare building that was for sale at Revival Christian Center in Rancho Cordova, Hands of Support created a makeshift living space for approximately 400 refugees over the course of four months. Each resident stayed for a maximum of 30 days, and the programming continued until the City of Rancho Cordova shut them down due to code incompliance.

“We did it silently until someone complained,” says Melnychuk, “But the city paid for one month at a hotel for those still living at the church.”

With the temporary housing now shuttered, Hands of Support continued to dream big as they held weekly fellowships and planned to raise money to purchase a house that would allow them to continue to offer shelter. Working one of the area’s TNT fireworks stands seemed like an ideal fundraiser.

As Melnuchuk shared from her own refugee experience, “I came in 2004. I had relatives, but people come here with no one and it’s scary.”

The fireworks fundraiser started off smoothly but took a turn when the storage container holding the group’s fireworks was robbed on the night of Wednesday, June 28. Although sales of the fireworks had barely started, the group discovered the next morning that their complete inventory was gone. In an unrelated incident a few days prior, another ministry of the church called God Will Provide had their trailer stolen.

Despite the extreme setback, Hands of Support received more fireworks from TNT and attempted to recoup the loss. “It was a fundraiser and then we started to fund the fundraiser,” said Melnychuk.

For TNT’s part, representative Jim Castilone stated that the TNT employees collected personal donations for the group, and TNT lowered the margin percentage by half, charging Hands in Support 25% instead of the usual 50% that groups are deducted from the final sales. As of press time, Hands in Motion potentially owed TNT approximately $10,000, pending a meeting with the company to see if anything else could be done to ease the financial burden.

While the fireworks were housed in a secure metal storage container with a square lock, they did not have an overnight watchman on duty as TNT recommends for all groups participating in the week-long fundraiser. When asked about the situation, Melnuchuk expressed concern for the group’s volunteers and level of morale following such a devastating loss.

“For me, the fundraising – I worry about killing the excitement of those who helped. They worked all week and there’s no money.”

As Hands of Support works through their challenges following the fireworks vandalism, Melnychuk has seemed to retain her tough and inspiring spirit in the same manner the world has observed in many Ukrainians who have shown strength and resilience through impossible circumstances in recent years. She speaks with hope about their continued dream to still purchase a home for refugees.

“It’s needed. Right now, they are talking about where and how to find it.”

The group does not currently have a website, but a fellow Christian group, Royal Stage Performing & Visual Arts, has offered to field donations and pass them on. Those wishing to help should make a donation via royalstage.org or Venmo @royal-stage-arts, and making a note in the comment section that the donation is for Hands of Support. All donations are tax-deductible and will go towards helping Ukrainian refugees find friendship, practical life resources, and temporary housing.