Our Story

Jed and Kim Johnson, co-founders of Wide Awake Int. were in the US living the “American Dream.” Jed worked at a local nonprofit that supported families at risk and Kim was a nurse at the local hospital. They were foster parents for medically fragile infants and serving in the local church. One evening, Kim stumbled into the world of special-needs adoption blogs and for the first time her eyes were opened to the plight of people with disabilities locked away in institutions in Eastern Europe. That night changed their lives forever.

After months of prayer and discussion, Jed and Kim couldn’t shake the feeling that they were supposed to personally respond to the issue of institutionalization. In April, they traveled to Ukraine for the first time to see the issue firsthand and to see how God wanted them to respond. By the end of that trip, a dream had taken root in their hearts. The dream of deinstitutionalization and the dream of the broken being accepted into families became the Johnson’s life mission. They believed the Lord was inviting them to move to Ukraine to do the work of deinstitutionalization and they answered “YES.”

In July, Wide Awake International was founded as a 501c3 in the State of Oregon. On November 13th, Jed and Kim, along with their 4 children, 12 suitcases, and a guitar moved to Ukraine to begin the slow work of deinstitutionalization. They had one-way tickets in their hands and big dreams in their hearts.

Jed and Kim met some amazing teenagers who began joining them on weekly visits to a rural institution for men and boys in the town of Romaniv and the Wide Awake team was born. Some of those teens went on to get their degrees and have since become the leaders of this organization!

The Johnsons adopted Vlad, a 15 year old boy who was living at the institution in Romaniv. The work of deinstitutionalization had truly begun.

In the summer, the Johnson family moved from the city to the Homestead. At the end of 2017, Jed and Kim gained legal guardianship of Boris and he joined their family. Boris' guardianship case was the first example in the Zhytomyr region of an adult with disabilities being taken into guardianship by a non-relative and was a bit of an uphill battle. However, it set a precedent for the future and was a momentous step in the work of deinstitutionalization.

The second cohort of interns began working at Romaniv as the first cohort finished up their training and went on to higher education. In September, Jed and Kim gained guardianship of Ruslan and Anton and brought them home to the Homestead. Their house and hands were quite full, but the team was growing. This was a difficult time, but also an important time of learning for the whole team. Many mistakes were made, but despite that the boys began to grow and thrive within the love of a family.

The neighboring land was purchased and construction of the duplex began!

Ruslan and Anton moved out of the Johnson’s home and into apartments, living with Wide Awake team members as it became obvious that big family life was not the best for their individual needs. This was a bit of a heartache, but an important step as the team began to reimagine and redefine what it means to provide “family” for people who have come out of institutions. Anton and Ruslan began to thrive in smaller group living and the team gained experience living with them.

Side B of the duplex was completed and Anton moved there along with loving house parents. In May, Jed gained guardianship of Sasha and brought him home to live in the duplex with Anton. The dream of a full Homestead was taking shape!

Side A of the duplex was completed just as Russia began its full-scale war in Ukraine. The duplex became like Noah’s Ark–finished just in time to be filled up, a sanctuary in the storm. Many team members, friends, and internally displaced people came to live at the Homestead during those first few months of war. In March, most of the team and all of the boys evacuated to Germany. While in Germany, Jed gained temporary custody of Vova and Yaroslav and brought them to live with the team in Germany. By July, everyone had returned to Ukraine to move forward with the vision of bringing dignity, love, and hope to people with disabilities in the Zhytomyr Region of Ukraine.

As war rages on in Ukraine, the Wide Awake team is putting one foot in front of the other, saying “YES” to the next thing God asks of them. Jed was granted official guardianship of Vova and Yaroslav, and plans are being made for the construction of a multipurpose building that will house offices, apartments, and large group events. The team is still dreaming big! This work is more important now than ever before.