NORTH TONAWANDA, N.Y. — One year ago, North Tonawanda native Joshua Isaacs woke up his wife Kateryna Garbar in the middle of the night at their home in Kharkiv, Ukraine because of a sound, only to find out it was under attack.
"It did sound like fireworks," Garbar said. "He told me the war started. Russia is bombing us. And that's when we got out of bed and started making plans of what to do in the situation."
Two days later, the couple couldn't stop asking themselves one question.
"How am I going to forgive myself if anything happens to my children? They are my future. They have to live," Garbar said.
So they decided to get their 7-year-old son Arden and 4-year-old daughter Anna to safety. They decided to come to Western New York.
But doing so also meant leaving their puppy with a neighbor, and saying "see you someday" to Kateryna's 81-year-old father.
He stayed, believing his medical issues would never allow him to make it to Buffalo.
When the Isaacs got to North Tonawanda last year, we shared their story on Channel 2. They were completely starting over.
"We had so much support when we came here that we basically felt like we left one family and came to another family here," Garbar said.
They never expected their new family to raise $23,000 for them or show them kindness in other ways.
"Some of them came up to us in the street because they recognized us on the street from your program, and wanted to help, and asked how they could help or just gave us a hug. That felt so good," Garbar said.
Now a year later, the Isaacs have a house in North Tonawanda. They both have jobs, their kids are making friends at school and finally, they are all adapting to a life without bombs.
Their puppy is now with a family friend in Poland, and Garbar's father talks to her frequently, showing her a home almost unrecognizable.
Despite the warzone that has become Ukraine, the community is doing their best to rebuild.
And Garbar is hopeful that one day the resilience of her people will get Ukraine to the other side of this war victorious.
"Russia planned to occupy Ukraine in three days," Garbar said.
"The fact that such a little country if you look the map. Russia is huge compared to Ukraine. The fact that we can stand up to them and still exist a year later and still fight and still not lose our spirit, it says something about us."
The Isaacs go to Salem United Church of Christ in Tonawanda.
The church is planning to send help to Kharkiv.
If you would like to help, you can donate money to the church. They are also collecting candy, coloring books, school supplies, and kids underwear and socks.
The one rule is it must all be colorful since it's for kids.
There's also an effort to send supplies to Ukrainians in Kharkiv. Click here to donate.