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At 13 years old, Kyiv native Ivan was living an ordinary teenage life. He spent his days at school, listened to music, swam, and had recently discovered a new passion: boxing. He loved the rhythm of training, the discipline, the feeling of getting stronger.

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Life felt open and full of possibility.

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Then, in 2022, everything changed.

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When Russia invaded Ukraine, the normalcy Ivan knew vanished almost overnight. Air raid sirens, fear, and uncertainty replaced practices, hobbies, and plans for the future. Boxing—and childhood itself—was suddenly put on hold.

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“It became very dangerous,” Ivan said.

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His mother, Svetlana, remembers the terror of those early days. “I couldn’t protect my children,” she explained.

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Faced with impossible choices, Svetlana gathered Ivan and his sister and fled. First they found temporary refuge in Lithuania for a week, and then in the Czech Republic for several months. During that time, Ivan’s father was drafted to fight.

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Like so many families displaced by war, they were suspended between worlds—grateful to be safe, but desperate for news from home.

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Eventually, hoping the violence might subside, Svetlana made the decision to return to Ukraine.

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But the war did not end.

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And then the unthinkable happened.

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“We lost my husband, and the father of my children,” Svetlana said, fighting back tears.

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In the wake of devastating loss, family friends in Los Angeles offered to sponsor the family. In 2024, Svetlana, her children, and Ivan’s grandparents made the journey to the United States in search of safety and a chance to rebuild.

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Starting over was not easy. There was a new language, a new culture, new systems to navigate, and the heavy weight of grief they carried with them.

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But soon after arriving, their friends told them about ZOOZ Fitness—a gym serving people with disabilities, and a place, they promised, where Ivan might feel welcome.

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They were right.

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Ivan began with boxing classes. The first time he pulled on the gloves again, something familiar returned—the confidence, the focus, the spark.

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“Ivan would like to come to ZOOZ everyday,” Svetlana laughed. “ZOOZ is a wonderful place for our special children. My son and I love ZOOZ because it isn’t just about exercise, it’s also about improving conversation and communication skills.” 

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“I love boxing,” Ivan said. “I am so grateful for my trainers who help me, Allison, Chris, Keren and Jay.”

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Not long after, Ivan tried yoga. What began as something new quickly became his second favorite class. The movement, the breath, the calm—it gave him another way to feel strong in his body and quiet in his mind.

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At ZOOZ, Ivan found more than fitness.

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He found routine.

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He found a community.

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He found people who saw him not as a refugee or a child marked by tragedy, but as a teenager with goals, humor, and enormous potential.

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Most of all, he found a new home.

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