When Ashland resident Ben Stott came back from doing humanitarian work in Ukraine, he wanted to raise money for the country that had been pulled into war. But he was having trouble getting public support.
Then, he got the suggestion of establishing a sister city program. The idea, he said, was that by focusing on a single city, rather than the overall Ukraine-Russia war, giving aid might feel more tangible.
鈥淲e just say, 鈥極kay, we can鈥檛 help the whole country, but we can help one small town.鈥� That鈥檚 kind of our motto,鈥� Stott said.
He and a group of collaborators decided to partner with Sviatohirsk, a city that鈥檚 similar to Ashland and that they thought Rogue Valley residents might be able to relate to.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a lovely small town along a river that鈥檚 surrounded by a really large forest, so it has a similar geographic kind of environment to Ashland,鈥� Stott said.
It's also a tourist destination, due to its large monastery.
He and the group Ashland-Sviatohirsk Aid Project took the proposal to Ashland Mayor Tonya Graham, who said she鈥檇 back it if the city council was on board. In June, the sister city proposal was unanimously approved.
This isn鈥檛 the first sister city in Ashland. In 1969, another , through Southern Oregon University. Since then, there have been numerous cultural exchanges. Students and faculty travel between universities. Guanajuato sent firefighters to help after the 2020 Almeda Fire, and Ashland donated two decommissioned ambulances to Guanajuato last year.
Sviatohirsk was heavily bombed by Russia. It鈥檚 in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine. Now, Stott said they鈥檙e working with the mayor of the Ukrainian town to identify its most urgent needs.
They鈥檙e currently working with an NGO called Insulate Ukraine that installs makeshift windows out of PVC tubing and polyurethane film. They can be installed in damaged buildings to keep residents warm and dry.
鈥淚t looks like somebody鈥檚 pool noodle project, but it works. And it can be done for as little as $15 a window,鈥� said Paul Huard, another member of the Ashland aid group.
Next, the group hopes to buy a utility truck to help repair electrical lines that were destroyed by shelling so that residents can have heat this winter.
Both Huard and Stott said they hope that after this acute need is met, they can maintain a long term cultural exchange with Sviatohirsk. And maybe, they said, Ashland partnering with one Ukrainian city can be a model for others in Oregon to start their own sister city projects.
Huard is a humanities teacher at Ashland High School and said his motivation for this work comes from his training as a historian.
鈥淔rankly, as I tell people, I鈥檝e read this book before. I know how it can end unless people intervene and support a fellow democracy,鈥� he said.
More information for Sunday鈥檚 Sviatohirsk can be found on the City of Ashland website.
