Why renting a small place matters right now
Right now, we are staying with our sponsor. We are deeply grateful for this help, because it gave us a safe place immediately after detention. But this is temporary. We do not have our own home yet.
Our main practical priority is rental housing — a small studio or simple apartment that is safe, realistic, and stable. We are not looking for anything expensive or special. We need a place where we can begin to live independently.
For us, renting our own place is not about comfort only. It is about having a stable address, a private space for calls with our attorney, a safe place for documents, and a quiet room where we can recover as a family.
A small rented place would give us the first real structure after detention.
After detention, even normal routines take effort. A rental application, a phone call to a landlord, proof of identity, payment methods, transportation, copies, and questions about deposits all become separate problems to solve.
We are trying to understand the rental market, studio prices, neighborhoods, requirements, guarantors, deposits, utilities, laundry, parking, and transportation. So much information was missed while we were detained, and we have to learn it quickly and carefully.
We have not yet met with the local Belarusian community in person because we are still in isolation. Later, we hope to connect with people, ask for advice, and learn from others who already know how housing, transportation, and daily life work here.
We are grateful for temporary shelter, but we do not want to stay dependent on anyone. A small rented home would help us move from emergency help to stability, and from stability to independence.
Until we receive work authorization and become fully stable, this step is difficult to manage alone. Support during this transition helps us move toward our own place and a normal routine.