I am delighted to update you on the resettlement of the father and son from Moscow, Ilya and Matvey, who JFS of Metrowest paired with TBE.

The two had been staying with family since they arrived in America in mid-December, but recently moved into their own apartment in the Brookline-Brighton area. The response from the TBE community to help outfit the new apartment was overwhelming. The apartment is quickly becoming a home.
Matvey recently turned 18, and has eagerly started to make a new life here. His goal is to attend college in the fall, and we are pleased to share news that he has already been accepted to several colleges, including UMass Amherst and Boston, Suffolk University, and Goucher College—all with financial assistance packages. The family has been receiving guidance to evaluate the packages.

Matvey continues to take classes at a community college, and through his hard work and perseverance has earned very high grades. At the same time, he works full-time to save money for upcoming college expenses. Matvey has quite a busy life, running from classes to work to tutoring to helping his father with English. His great wish is to begin to meet others his age and form friendships, something he hasn’t had time to do!

Members of the TBE community have been meeting with Ilya to help him improve his English, and he can now operate fully in English with a little help from Google Translate and his son. Even his phone skills are good enough to get concepts and points across. Ilya has a long accomplished career in publishing, printing and graphic design, and has been very actively networking to try to find employment opportunities.

All of us who have had the privilege of getting to know them are inspired by their resourcefulness to make a new and better life here in America.