Maria Llewellyn puts on her scrubs, greets her coworkers and starts her shift as an RN in the Family Care Suites at SSM Health St. Mary’s Hospital - Madison. With a smile on her face, she makes her rounds caring for new moms and babies. From the outside, it looks like another typical day, but on the inside, Maria is filled with stress and worry as she prays for her family and friends in Ukraine.
Life for Maria – originally from Ukraine – her husband Ben and their two young sons looks markedly different than it did just three months ago prior to the Russian invasion. Not only are they concerned for Maria’s relatives who remain in the country, but they also recently opened their home to a Ukrainian refugee family as the war continues to tear people from their homes.
“Coming to work provides me with a bit of an escape,” Maria said. “It’s constant and normal when all other aspects of my life are not. It has been my saving grace, but I also recognize that I am coming to work wounded. The emotional pain of not knowing if my family is alive or not is constant. I sometimes need to take time out to cry and gather myself. My coworkers on my unit have truly been my family through this.”
Maria is known in the Family Care Suites as a calm and compassionate person who goes above and beyond to provide the best care possible for patients. She is a Certified Lactation Coach and is cross trained in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and Birth Suites.
“Maria is an exceptional nurse,” said Lisa Hansen, RN in Family Care Suites. “She is kind-hearted with a soft-spoken demeanor that our patients often really need after long hours of labor. She is generous with her time and talents while balancing these stressful life events at home and caring for our patients with her sweet, caring style. Our staff is so very thankful to have Maria as one of our nurses. She really is a role model of grace under pressure, especially lately with what we can all imagine is extremely difficult circumstances personally and for her family.”
Maria and Ben rely heavily on their faith in God. They met in 2007 when Ben traveled to Ukraine on a mission trip in college. Maria served as an interpreter for the Americans. After Ben returned the second year, the two began their relationship. Maria was initially hesitant to date an American, but soon saw that Ben was everything she prayed to God for. The couple married in 2009 and moved to Los Angeles before settling in Madison in 2010.
It is their combined faith that inspired them to take an active role in helping people displaced by the war. With her mother, father, brother and extended family still in Ukraine, Maria says helping Peter, Ksenia and their three young daughters helps her find some purpose and joy in the tragedy of war.
“When we moved into our new house just weeks before learning of the Sokor Family, we had prayed that it would host a lot of people,” Maria said. “We had no idea how God would answer that prayer. We are far more blessed to give than to receive. There is evidence of God’s grace in every step we take.”
The Llewellyn’s are grateful for their friends, coworkers and church community who have donated personal items and money to help support their humanitarian efforts. In addition to hosting the Sokor Family, the Llewellyn’s also raised enough money to help seven other Ukrainian families travel through Eastern Europe to safety in Poland and Czech Republic. But they’re not done yet. Maria and her family also joined with Encouragement International to spend a week in the Czech Republic from May 15-21 providing supplies and emotional support to Ukrainian refugees. Most are women and children as men with less than three children are required to stay behind to aid in military efforts.
“Most families left with what they had on their backs or what they could fit into a car,” Maria said. “They have nothing. They don’t know the language, and they can’t work. We are taking clothes, shampoos, soaps and other personal items that have been donated. The acts of kindness people are showing to us, and their willingness to help strangers is amazing.”
Maria and Ben also hope this experience serves as a learning opportunity for their sons and instills a passion for giving to others throughout their lives.
To learn how you can help with humanitarian efforts in Ukraine, visit the Catholic Health Association’s website to find information on the programs and support being provided from Catholic agencies and partners
