Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, lots of of 1000’s of Ukrainians have sought refuge in the USA. Pressured to depart behind their houses, careers, and family members, many arrived with little greater than hope and dedication to begin anew.
For Ievgen Potykun and Hanna Boiarska, together with their three sons, the transition was stuffed with uncertainty—till an sudden lifeline appeared within the type of a small bike store in Boulder, Colorado, providing them not simply work, however an opportunity to rebuild the secure, peaceable life that they had misplaced.
“We had by no means imagined leaving [Ukraine] for good.”
(Picture credit score: Levgen Potyku and Hanna Boiarska)
Potykun and Boiarska, each of their mid-30s, had profitable careers again in Ukraine, the place they lived and labored close to Kyiv. Potykun bought high-end rugs whereas Boiarska managed a shopping center. Neither rode bikes till the battle began.
“After the battle began, there have been issues with getting gasoline, so I began using my bike to work,” Potykun says. “I might experience a few days per week with a pal, possibly 10 miles every time, so I had some expertise with bikes, however not like I do now as a motorbike store proprietor.”
Because the depth of the battle elevated, so too did Potykun and Boiarska’s considerations for his or her youngsters’s security.
By the Biden administration’s Uniting for Ukraine program, the couple and their three sons—now ages 4, 5 and 11—made their option to the Rocky Mountains in mid-2022. They arrived with the promise of shelter from a beneficiant couple who had opened their house to Ukrainian refugees.
“After we left Ukraine, it wasn’t a call to completely transfer to the U.S.,” Boiarska says. “We thought it might be a summer season vacation — an opportunity to depart the battle and provides our children security for a number of months till issues settled down. We liked our life in Ukraine; it’s a great nation, and we had by no means imagined leaving it for good.”
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Boiarska and her three younger boys arrived within the U.S. first, whereas Potykun stayed behind in Ukraine for six extra months to wrap up some household enterprise.
Battling restricted English expertise and arriving with solely the naked necessities of their suitcases, Boiarska turned to the Nextdoor app, posting a plea for donations of clothes and requirements from the group.
It was Chuck and Laura Ankeny, the unique house owners of Freedom Folding and Electrical Bikes, who noticed Boiarska’s Nextdoor submit and supplied to take Boiarska and her sons to Goal for a buying spree. Right here, the household obtained garments, cooking utensils and groceries.
“I instructed Chuck and Laura that we would have liked mates, individuals to speak with and spend time with,” Boiarska says. “The primary few months within the U.S. have been so isolating; we actually wished mates. Chuck and Laura rapidly grew to become like our mother and father.”
What started as a short lived escape has stretched into two years, main Potykun and Boiarska to make the life-altering determination to remain within the U.S. completely because the battle rages on. And, because the Ankenys transfer towards retirement, the Ukranian couple is stepping in to take over Freedom Folding and Electrical Bikes, securing each their livelihood and a future of their new house.
(Picture credit score: Levgen Potyku and Hanna Boiarska)
Firstly of their friendship, the Ankenys invited Potykun and Boiarska to go to the bike store to speak and observe their English. However the Ankenys quickly found that the Ukrainian pair had a knack for fixing bikes, participating with clients, and managing the ins and outs of a small enterprise.
In early 2024, the Ankenys supplied Potykun and Boiarska a novel alternative: relatively than promoting Freedom Folding and Electrical Bikes to some unknown purchaser, they proposed a gradual possession switch, permitting the Ukrainian couple to take over the enterprise and safe each the store’s and the couple’s future.“It began out as a small gesture that has became a really giant one,” says Chuck Ankeny by way of Colorado Public Radio. “It’s actually due to the potential I noticed in [Potykun and Boiarska].”
On the time, Potykun and Boiarska had pieced collectively a number of part-time jobs that supplied some independence and allowed them to lease a house in Longmont, simply north of Boulder. However the alternative to do what they liked—proudly owning and managing a enterprise—was too good to cross up, and so they went all in on the provide.
“I understand how operating a enterprise works, in order that was useful —[the bike shop] is only a totally different product from what I’ve managed earlier than,” Boiarska says. “And Ievgen, he’s good together with his fingers, so we work nicely collectively.”
The couple spent practically each day of 2024 immersed in studying bike mechanics from Chuck Ankeny. The toughest half? Remembering the names of every bike part.
“I might preserve a pocket book of the bike half names in Ukrainian on one aspect, and in English on the opposite,” Potykun says. “After we have been studying from Chuck, it took us a while to grasp at first what individuals have been speaking about once they would clarify what’s incorrect with their bike. Now although, we are saying ‘Convey it, and we are going to repair it.’ We are able to repair nearly something on any bike.”
The Way forward for Freedom
(Picture credit score: Levgen Potyku and Hanna Boiarska)
On any given weekday, you’ll discover Potykun and Boiarska of their sunlit, welcoming bike store, the place the home windows proudly showcase a number of Brompton fashions (they’re an official Brompton retailer).
Though the store identify is Freedom Folding and Electrical Bikes, the pair is pivoting their companies to incorporate all bikes. Street bikes, gravel bikes, mountain bikes, recumbent bikes — if it has two (or typically three) wheels, they’ll work on it.
And now that they’ve determined to make the U.S. their everlasting house, the couple is immersing themselves even additional in Boulder’s vibrant biking group.
“Bikes can change your life and we’re proof of that,” Boiarska says. “On weekends, we use our cargo bike to experience throughout city. Generally we even experience to work. I actually love all of this — using bikes, operating this enterprise and the group.”
Even when you don’t have a motorbike that wants fixing, Potykun encourages you to pop in nonetheless and take a look round.
“We’re glad to easily chat with members of the group and have them spend time in our store,” Potykun says. “Come on by and be our pal.”
