Wendy Farrell has been in Poland for seven weeks. She's there with 31 orphans from Ukraine and is working to get them to safe homes in the U.S. while their country defends itself against the Russian invasion.
Farrell, 39, grew up in Little Rock and is the daughter of Rex and Becky Horne. She lives in Springfield, Mo., with her husband, Ryan, and their five daughters. Her connection to Ukraine dates to 2013, when she and Ryan adopted their oldest daughter, Alona, who is now 24, from the Crimea region.
Farrell is the founder of the nonprofit 1U, which works with Ukrainian orphans and their communities, and for seven years has partnered with Children's Path, an orphanage about an hour north of Lviv in western Ukraine.
"We're more than partners; we're like family," she said last week. "I go over there three to four times a year. As we heard rumors of war, we were concerned for their safety and started making contingency plans."
There was also the scary fact that the orphanage, which is now being used to house about 90 refugees, is less than 2 miles from a military base.
After Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, Farrell planned her trip to Krakow, Poland. Orphanage director Nikolay Shagarov had gotten approval to bring the children, ages 2 to 17, to the city, which they reached on March 2.
The children are living in a dorm outside Krakow that's normally used during summer camps, as caregivers sort through the paperwork to get visas for them to leave, a process made even more complicated by the war.
"Our goal is to get them to the United States for the duration of the war," Farrell says. "We do want them to return home, though, because we love Ukraine and that's where our hearts are."
Farrell and others with 1U have also partnered with Polish businesses to provide 140 refugees from Ukraine with food and a place to stay, according to the 1U website.
"The Polish people have been very generous and kind. The older ones remember WWII and what happened here when Germany invaded them," Farrell said.
There is a worry, Farrell added, of how long the country can sustain the influx of refugees.
Her story has been reported by People magazine, "NBC Nightly News," "Dateline" and the Christian Broadcasting Network.
Rex Horne, the former Democrat-Gazette columnist who was pastor at Immanuel Baptist Church in Little Rock for 16 years and served as president of Ouachita Baptist University from 2006 to 2015, and his wife, Becky, are keeping close tabs on their daughter's work.
"We are truly proud of her," Becky said.
"She's always been very strong-willed," said Rex. "It's not surprising how tenacious she's been."
For information, visit 1Uproject.org or facebook.com/1uproject/.
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