BILLINGS — A family that currently lives in Ukraine has returned to Billings for the holidays.
The Johnsons have been living in Ukraine for the past decade, after creating a nonprofit and moving there to help advocate for Ukrainians living with disabilities.
The idea first came to the family when they attempted to adopt a young boy with disabilities from Ukraine and it fell through. After learning a little bit more about how the adoption process worked in Ukraine — specifically for those with disabilities — the Johnsons decided they needed to do something.
"We saw how these people, just because they had a disability, were given a life sentence," said Jed Johnson Sunday afternoon. "We just felt like we needed to change something."
The idea to adopt a child originally came from Jed's wife Kim. She had also learned about the treatment of disabled residents in that part of the world.
"As I read, I just had no idea these things were still happening," said Kim on Sunday. "We saw how people were treated in the institution. They were so traumatized and so abused, that they couldn't handle human contact. They needed someone to get them out of that situation."
So, the Johnsons formed a nonprofit, dropped everything and moved to Ukraine to help get these young Ukrainians adopted. Jed grew up in Billings, while Kim grew up in Oregon and both said it was a culture shock when trying to make a change.
"It's really been one day at a time," Jed said. "You can't just change a system. There's so many layers to this."
Adding to that, basically as soon as the family arrived, a revolution began with Ukrainians attempting to overthrow their government. More recently, a war with Russia has broken out, completely changing the lives of the Johnsons.
"We went from a country at relative peace to a country experiencing complete and total invasion," Jed said. "You see the fear in your children's eyes and you just want to protect them."
The first days of warfare were unlike anything the family could have imagined.
"Our house was shaking," Kim said. "The sky was lit up orange and our house was shaking, just boom! Boom! I never imagined I'd be sitting with my family listening to bombs outside of our home."
Even through warfare, the Johnsons have never wavered when asked why they haven't moved back.
"This is our home and these are our people," Kim said. "Ukraine is our home. We can't leave in its time of need."
While the family has no intention to move away from Ukraine, they are in the middle of a quick break. For the first time in nearly three years, they are back in the United States to see family, with a brand new perspective.
"You see how precious life is, whether it's in our work or specifically experience in the war and having friends of our serving," Jed said. "It definitely makes time together really special."
