When I think of 9/11, I think about my mother, Rimma Kharlamova.
On 9/11, she was in downtown Manhattan, just a few blocks from the World Trade Center. Like so many others who were frightened and shaken but lucky to be alive, she eventually made her way home on foot across the Brooklyn Bridge.
What happened that day affected her deeply. A few months later, she began working at FEGS, a nonprofit helping survivors of 9/11 rebuild their lives.
We came to this country in 1997. My mother was 48, spoke no English, and had to start her life over. Almost immediately, my father became seriously ill, and she had to care for him while trying to build a new life in a new country. But she had always wanted to help people, and she set herself a goal: to become a social worker.
That dream came true when she was hired at FEGS.
Her clients were mostly people from the arts: actors, photographers, designers, writers, ballet dancers. Some had been inside the Twin Towers and were lucky enough to survive. Others had lived or worked near Ground Zero. These people lost their homes, their livelihoods, their health, and people they loved.
My mother primarily provided counseling, but her work went far beyond that. She helped people find new jobs, new clients, new apartments, and whatever else they needed to begin putting their lives back together.
During her years at FEGS, she helped people from all over the world. There was Tom, a cinematographer who lost his job and apartment, developed cancer, and went through a divorce. Joakim’s art gallery was destroyed, and he became homeless. Doreen, a photographer, ran outside on 9/11 and took pictures. Exposure to the air around Ground Zero and the trauma of what she experienced left her so ill that she could no longer work.
Little by little, my mother helped them recover, regain stability, and move forward with their lives.
My mom passed away in 2020. After the FEGS project ended, she dedicated the rest of her life to helping people through other nonprofits. But her work with survivors of 9/11 was something that she was proud of the most. Shortly before she died, she wrote a book about that experience (only in Russian, unfortunately - one day, I hope to translate it into English).
Today, I remember my mother. I remember everyone who lost their lives on 9/11, everyone who survived, and everyone who came together afterward to help others find their way forward.
P.S.: Если вы читаете по русски, некоторые ее очерки можно прочесть на https://www.rimma.us/