Thread by @tanjamaier17

I finally did it. And 11 Hofer cards. Thank you 😍

Before Hofer I stopped by @trainofhope which is INCREDIBLE as an unorganized person by birth I am in awe of how neat, tidy, friendly, welcoming the whole place is and thank you to Nina for the impromptu tour. They always need volunteers. Such a nice vibe. Nice hot lunch and 🥗!

On my way out, I noticed 3 young women standing with duffel bags. Their Uber didn’t work. I said cancel your order, and called them a Bolt. They were on a bus for 3 days from Dnipro. Will go now to a new Vienna shelter for a night or two until getting sent on a bus somewhere.

When helicopters circled above, one of the women jolted instinctively, then said, I keep forgetting I’m not in Ukraine anymore. We talked about options; I warned them against rural hotels and getting stuck somewhere. The problem with the door to door bus evacuations = no choice.

I realized when I’m at the train station the conversations feel more realistic because we could — and I think this may be over as of June 1 — help them get rail tickets to other countries. You can talk options. Standing in a parking lot, going to another EU country sounds hard.

Long story short if you have time to volunteer or donate in kind items (they publish fresh lists often) I would recommend @trainofhope it looked very peaceful and welcoming and super well organized. Blew my mind.

instagram.com/trainofhope.vi…

Just when I thought I could go home I ran into my neighbor from Dnipro with her 4yo son. They will move to Steyr in 2 weeks. Their flat in Wien was only until June (donated by an Austrian), and they found an Austrian women in Steyr who will share her flat with them.

She asked me about the TV license (she got a bill from GIS in her name and is scared and confused) and does understand moving means doing the whole registration process all over again: Meldezettel, AMS, Caritas, kindergarten — new Bundesland, start over. It never ends.

@threadreaderapp pls unroll