Tetyana Tkachenko was a flutist in the Kharkiv philharmonic. She was always into fashion and had a boutique in her hometown. She is originally from the town of Poltava in central Ukraine, one of the places now in the news daily, given the Russian invasion of the country. Back in the mid-2000s, life for Tanya — as her sisters call her — was robust. She competed in a few pageants and became Mrs. Ukraine in 2007 and Mrs. Black Sea in 2008. The two international competitions to crown Mrs. Globe happened in Rancho Mirage at the Mission Hill Hotel. Following the second pageant, Tetyana was headed home to Ukraine. Having recently gone through a divorce, she was depressed. Tetyana — now 43 — was leaving the U.S. after the 2008 contest when a somewhat rom-com situation occurred. With minimal English and at sixes and sevens, she got lost in the Palm Springs airport, and Ronald Diaz — a TSA officer — not only helped her to get where she was going, but the two wound up falling in love and getting married. 

Tetyana made the move to the Coachella Valley in 2009 and started a new life, pursuing her passion for fashion and vintage treasures. She says it was hard to continue her classical music career here, and she threw herself into her other loves. 

She spent the next decade building her collection, opening a women’s clothing shop in Palm Springs (Valerie in Style) and selling vintage clothing and keepsakes at the Vintage Market. It was there I met Tetyana last March when the war in Ukraine was in its infancy. Touched by the Ukrainian flag and her sign asking for donations, I was also drawn to an item. I have long ago Ukrainian heritage and the brutal war is often on my mind and heavy in my heart. I thought maybe I’d find something I could buy to help support the cause. There she was, a shelf-sitting wooden sculpture of a lady in a lime-colored dress. I remarked to my friend that she was “Svetlana on the Shelf,” like those silly holiday elves, and I had to have her. She sits up on a high shelf next to a Christmas cactus in my bedroom, reminding me of how much I love a good vintage market. It also reminds me of the ongoing difficulties in Ukraine. 

Nine months later, I visited Tetyana at the Vintage Market and asked her about my Svetlana. She remembered her immediately. She says she remembers every treasure and story.

When Tkachenko was collecting donations for Ukraine, she raised funds to bring her two sisters, Olga and Lisa, and their children out of the war zone. Her mom, Lubov, has been in the U.S. for five years. Her father and brothers-in-law are in Ukraine. Both brothers-in-law are with the local defense force as support to the military. Her father — approved to come to the U.S. because of his age — stayed behind to care for his mother, Sophia. Tetyana, Liza and Olga’s 96-year-old grandmother cannot hear. She needs 24/7 care, and the family has kept news about the invasion from her. 

Tetyana succeeded in raising funds to help her sisters leave Ukraine. Olga, Liza, and their two daughters spent a month in difficult transit through Poland before arriving in Palm Springs in April 2022, thanks to Tetyana sponsoring their paperwork. At home, Olga Trehub was a writer and photographer. One of her photos — taken during the exodus of Ukrainians to Poland — won an award recently. A photo of a little girl, backlit and with hair flying, the look on her face tells the refugee story. Liza ran an office supply store that shuttered during the pandemic. She had pivoted to become a hairstylist during COVID, only to have the brutal invasion change everything on Feb. 23, 2022, when the bombs started landing, and the Russian tanks rolled in. Olga says: “I was living in the capital, Kyiv. It was my birthday and friends were gathered to celebrate.”

In April, they landed in the desert — a shock to the system coming from Eastern Europe. The two children, Liza’s Aliza — who is 3 years old and misses her father and great-grandmother — and Diliara — Olga’s 13-year-old — now live with their aunts and grandmother in Palm Springs, grateful to be far from the missiles and freezing temperatures. They are all together in a small apartment in the Coachella Valley, but safe. Diliara is in eighth grade at Cielo Vista Charter School. A budding tennis player back home, Olga is thankful she can train at Charles Moore Tennis Academy in Cathedral City. Olga proudly says, “She speaks English better than anyone in the family,” and then the tone shifts and says, “She left Ukraine [as] a little girl, and now she is a teenager.” War is traumatic and transformational, yet kids still grow, learn, play, and make friends. 

The sisters, who had not lived together in the same town in 20 years, have bonded deeply because of the trauma. They try to keep busy and enjoy the winter months in the desert when it’s cooler and they can be outside. They take Aliza to the playground and help Tetyana with her business as they await news from home. Psychologically, it is challenging to keep spirits buoyed and hoping and praying to return home soon, despite the worrying news. Tetyana feels the Russians are trying to “erase us,” and they try mightily to stay connected to friends and family. Liza says: “(Ukrainians) need any kind of support we can provide. There is no electricity.”

As the war moves into its second year, the needs of the Ukrainian people and families like Tetyana’s have only grown; particularly during the brutal winter months. The refugees are in a limbo state, unable to work legally in the U.S. as they await papers. Together they find pleasure and purpose in bringing new life to old items. In fact, when there is power and the connection is good, Tetyana often has Facetime sessions with her dad, Viktor, who teaches her to rewire and repair lamps and restore other items. Along with her penchant for fashion, Tetyana has always had a yen for antiques, jewelry and special collectibles. She says that she loves “unique items, because they are special and bring joy.” And now the dedication to vintage is supporting a family and by extension a country, as the war rages on and snow blankets the region.

    “It has been an intensely stressful time,” Tetyana says, as her business was just resurfacing from the pandemic when the war began. Now her boutique is closed and she is looking for a new location. They all say the Palm Springs community has been incredibly supportive, standing with Ukraine. The sisters are grateful to be safe, in such a beautiful place, and with Tetyana’s vintage superpower, the family is surviving together. If you’d like to support the family, there is a GoFundMe page and you can find Tetyana’s booth at the Vintage Market on the first Sunday of each month through May: Peace, Family and Vintage!