Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, a whole bunch of 1000’s of Ukrainians have sought refuge in the USA. Compelled 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 full of uncertainty—till an surprising lifeline appeared within the type of a small bike store in Boulder, Colorado, providing them not simply work, however an opportunity to rebuild the protected, peaceable life that they had misplaced.
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Toggle“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 driving my bike to work,” Potykun says. “I might trip a few days every week with a good friend, possibly 10 miles every time, so I had some expertise with bikes, however not like I do now as a motorcycle store proprietor.”
Because the depth of the battle elevated, so too did Potykun and Boiarska’s considerations for his or her kids’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 solution to the Rocky Mountains in mid-2022. They arrived with the promise of shelter from a beneficiant couple who had opened their residence to Ukrainian refugees.
“After we left Ukraine, it wasn’t a choice to completely transfer to the U.S.,” Boiarska says. “We thought it could be a summer season vacation — an opportunity to depart the battle and provides our children security for just a few months till issues settled down. We cherished 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.
Fighting 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 neighborhood.
It was Chuck and Laura Ankeny, the unique house owners of Freedom Folding and Electrical Bikes, who noticed Boiarska’s Nextdoor submit and provided to take Boiarska and her sons to Goal for a purchasing spree. Right here, the household obtained garments, cooking utensils and groceries.
“I advised Chuck and Laura that we would have liked associates, individuals to talk with and spend time with,” Boiarska says. “The primary few months within the U.S. had been so isolating; we actually needed associates. Chuck and Laura shortly grew to become like our dad and mom.”
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 residence.
(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 talk and apply their English. However the Ankenys quickly found that the Ukrainian pair had a knack for fixing bikes, participating with prospects, and managing the ins and outs of a small enterprise.
In early 2024, the Ankenys provided Potykun and Boiarska a novel alternative: quite 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 massive one,” says Chuck Ankeny through 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 just a few part-time jobs that provided some independence and allowed them to lease a house in Longmont, simply north of Boulder. However the alternative to do what they cherished—proudly owning and managing a enterprise—was too good to go up, and so they went all in on the supply.
“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 palms, so we work effectively collectively.”
The couple spent practically day by day of 2024 immersed in studying bike mechanics from Chuck Ankeny. The toughest half? Remembering the names of every bike part.
“I might hold a pocket book of the bike half names in Ukrainian on one facet, and in English on the opposite,” Potykun says. “After we had been studying from Chuck, it took us a while to know at first what individuals had been speaking about once they would clarify what’s mistaken with their bike. Now although, we are saying ‘Carry 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. Highway 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 residence, the couple is immersing themselves even additional in Boulder’s vibrant biking neighborhood.
“Bikes can change your life and we’re proof of that,” Boiarska says. “On weekends, we use our cargo bike to trip throughout city. Generally we even trip to work. I actually love all of this — driving bikes, operating this enterprise and the neighborhood.”
Even when you don’t have a motorcycle that wants fixing, Potykun encourages you to pop in nonetheless and take a look round.
“We’re completely satisfied to easily chat with members of the neighborhood and have them spend time in our store,” Potykun says. “Come on by and be our good friend.”