JACKSONVILLE, Fla — Catholic Charities Jacksonville arranged for a local dentist, Donald Alexander, D.D.S., to provide free dental work to 12 Ukrainian refugees.
He’ll be doing exams at his office 6802 St. Augustine Rd., Jacksonville, FL 32217 from 8 a.m. til noon on Thursday, June 1.
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Here are some the the refugees and their stories:
Tatiana Tsyrkovnykova
Tatiana arrived to Jacksonville with her husband and her 15 year-old-son in December 2022 from Ukraine. They reached out to Catholic Charities for help with their paperwork. The nonprofit’s case managers helped her to get medical insurance ASAP, since she had recently had a bone marrow transplant, and needed follow up appointments. In addition to documents, they were assisted with rent and utility payments, which they were able to save money to purchase a car. Catholic Charities Jacksonville also provided them with free English language courses in addition to these dental services. The nonprofit is working with them on job readiness classes so that they can soon find employment.
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Eleonora Razgon
Eleonora fled the war in Ukraine with her two young children. Since her arrival, Catholic Charities has helped her find a job, cover utilities and housing, document processing, English language classes, and more. “This is an invaluable contribution that positively affects the further development of families, single mothers with children and other refugees from Ukraine and other countries,” Eleonora said, “Catholic Charities made it possible to feel more confident and not be in trouble.” She was connected with the free dental work via her case manager at Catholic Charities.
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Serhii Kovalenko
The Kovalenko family of 12 people (four of them are orphans), arrived in the U.S. on May 3 after fleeing Ukraine. Catholic Charities welcomed the family to Jacksonville and has been assisting with financial support and document processing so far for the family. “They are a blessing to us and people like us who are fleeing war,” Serhii said. Serhii was also gifted the opportunity to receive free dental work on Thursday.
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