Over 100 Ukrainians escaping a man-made disaster had come to Jasper to work and live only to face a natural disaster two years later.
Inna Horkun and her daughters were forced to leave Ukraine in 2022 following Russia’s full-scale invasion of their country.
After seeing a Facebook post from Jasper resident Nancy Addison offering help to Ukrainian refugees, Horkun decided to try rebuilding their life from scratch in the small mountain town.
“My older daughter and I went to work where the employers, knowing our situation, were already waiting for us, and the younger daughter went to school,” Horkun said in an email.
She cleaned at the Astoria Hotel, describing the owners as “wonderful people” and noting how the staff helped her because she didn’t speak English.
Horkun and her daughters managed to make a life for themselves, which lasted up until the evacuation due to the wildfires in late July.
“The day of evacuation did not surprise us much because we experienced a similar situation when leaving Ukraine,” she said. “I think that the mother's instinct worked.”
They had to gather their belongings quickly because she had been at work during the evacuation.
“I was in touch with my children and friends all the time, so we supported each other and knew what each other's situation was,” Horkun said.
Horkun and her daughters are currently staying in an Edmonton hotel and have received support from the Red Cross and the Canadian government.
“At the first opportunity, we will return to Jasper, which has become our second home,” she said. “We really fell in love with this town and the lovely locals.”
Olena Sevastyanova, who also came to Jasper two years ago, had connected with Addison who helped her find a job and place to live.
“I fell in love with Jasper and hospitable local people with all my heart and thought that I would grow old in this wonderful, incredibly beautiful place,” Sevastyanova said in an email.
She first worked as a cleaner because her English was at beginner level.
“After a couple of weeks, I got one more job as a prep cook and dishwasher at Jasper Pizza Place to improve my English, but mainly so I could work all the time and not have time to think about what was happening in my country,” she said.
Sevastyanova got lucky last February when she landed a job at Patricia Street Deli, saying, “It was a happy time when work brings pleasure.”
During the evacuation, she had to stand in line at the gas station for two hours, and then a 90-year-old woman called her asking for help.
“And so, the old woman with her 17-year-old cat, my friend and I sat in the car for another four hours until we managed to leave Jasper,” she said.
Sevastyanova has since been temporarily resettled at a hotel in Edmonton and has received helped from the Red Cross and advice from the Jasper Employment and Education Centre.
The fire destroyed her rented apartment and damaged the building where Patricia Street Deli is located.
Sevastyanova described the loss of both her home and place of work as “another blow," and she hopes to return to Jasper and that temporary housing will soon be available for residents.
Nancy Addison, who helped settle these refugees and now finds herself without a home, is worried about what will happen to them.
“Normally, I would say, ‘Okay, come sleep at my place for a couple months till we figure it out,’ but I have nothing to offer them anymore,” she said in a phone interview. “I don't have a room. I don't have a place for myself. Yeah, it's tough. These are very sad times. Breaks my heart. Makes me want to cry all the time.”
With help from other Jasperites, Addison had been able to bring in over 200 Ukrainian refugees to Canada, with over 100 living in Jasper.
Addison met Ukrainian refugees primarily through Facebook and helped them find places to live as well as jobs, and she was among many residents to offer their homes to these newcomers.
She noted that these Ukrainians had helped Jasper address its labour shortage.
Addison had no firm numbers for how many Ukrainian refugees had lost their homes in the wildfire, but she estimated 30 or more.
She has remained in touch with her Ukrainian friends through Facebook and has been hearing lots of uncertainty.
“These guys, they got nothing and no one," she said. "They don't have a network of family or cousins, and they’re not savvy enough to set up a GoFundMe, as some people have done. All they know is work. Most of them have a minimum of two jobs. Some of them have more. They just work, and that seems to be what they know as a means to support themselves.”
Unlike when they arrived in Canada, however, most of them understand enough English that they will have an easier time finding jobs or a home.
Addison and her husband are now staying in Riding Mountain National Park in Manitoba, living inside a 1928 cabin built by her grandmother, but will be required to leave in September and plan to house-sit in Vancouver.
“But I want to find my way back to Jasper,” she said. “I know there's work that needs to be done.”
She mourned the loss of the Jasper Anglican Church and the Jasper United Church, which not only assisted these refugees but also provided a safety net for lower-income workers and newcomers.
“It's these guys that are left without a safety net that really worry me, so I don't know what will become of a lot of them,” Addison said. “I'm hoping other people in other towns will see their worth and pick them up, but I'm not in a position to be able to do much anymore, which makes me incredibly sad.”
