Family of 12 finds refuge in Simcoe County from unrest in Ukraine

This week marks four years since Russia invaded Ukraine, resulting in increased Ukrainian communities across Canada, including Simcoe Muskoka.

This week marked four years since Russia invaded Ukraine, sparking the ongoing war, prompting many to escape the country.

The war has resulted in growing Ukrainian communities across Canada, including in Simcoe Muskoka, like Tetiana Zhylina and her big family.

Zhylina moved from Ukraine to Barrie in 2022 while she was pregnant, with her family of 12.

“This is a very good country for us,” Zhylina said. “For my family, for my kids – we love being here.”

Thanks to Kiwanis Club of Barrie President and landlord Cathy Locke, the big family found a place to stay: in Locke’s home.

At the time, Locke was thinking of selling her home but life had other plans.

“When this family came, I just knew there was nowhere they could go that they could afford,” Locke said. “So they just stayed with me and here we are three and a half years later.”

To make room for the family, Locke and her son moved from the main floor to the basement.

Locke said the family pulls together as all the children in the family who are 16 have their driver’s licences and those who can work, have jobs.

One of their children, Timothy Zhylin, works part-time at a gym and is preparing for his post-secondary education, which includes plans to go to college for mechanical engineering.

Both parents also work.

Zhylina is a school bus driver and her husband works long hours for an infrastructure manufacturer.

Locke said she and the family are more than just a tenant-landlord relationship but they’ve become a family, with the younger children calling her grandma.

While the Zhylinas need to ensure their immigration paperwork and work permits are current and up to date, they are quite comfortable in their new Canadian life.

With files from Mike Lang