JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Monday marks a grim anniversary for millions of people. It’s been three years since Russia invaded Ukraine.

“I was driving on A1A and got pulled over because I was crying,” said Helping Ukraine Founder Natalia Plyam. “The tears were coming out of my eyes.”

Plyam will never forget the day Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.

It all started with the city she grew up in near the border.

“The buildings I grew up around, the university I went to, it’s destroyed,” said Plyam.

Plyam felt compelled to do something, so she started the nonprofit Helping Ukraine, located in Jacksonville, to help refugees coming to Northeast Florida with necessities like places to live, furniture and clothes.

“It’s like branches of a tree,” said Plyam. “I’m helping one trunk, but they’re spreading whatever donations I have to like 30 other families, so 500-600, 700 people, I don’t know.”

Plyam says those numbers have started to plateau in the past few weeks after the U.S. government suspended the U4U program that allowed Ukrainians with a sponsor to come to the states for refuge.

Which is why Helping Ukraine is shifting its focus a bit from immediate help to long-term things, like legal aid and career guidance.

“People are making plans to buy a home, open a business, help them figure out how to take the exam to become a doctor here because they were a doctor back there, so there’s a lot of need for a lot of support,” said Plyam.

Plyam is hoping to form a board of directors for the nonprofit to help incorporate a wider variety of skill sets for helping people.

You can find more information on Helping Ukraine here.