Fostering resilience in a community shelter for displaced people
As the war goes on in its third year, Ukrainian civil society organisations do everything they can to support the people suffering from it. Believing in the power of community, Hungarian Interchurch Aid – in cooperation with Ukraine Response Consortium partners World Vision and ACTED and with financial backing from USAID, have introduced community-based grants to support grassroot initiatives fostering resilience. Within the project, “Motivation to Live”, the NGO running the shelter in Pidhorodne near Dnipro turned a semi-habitable space into a home for over 50 displaced people fleeing the war.
“The residents of the shelter are from all over Ukraine – all the towns that you can find on the frontline map – their men and women live here in the shelter.” Artem, the head of the NGO and himself displaced from Mariupol, introduces the people living in the accommodation of “Motivation to Live”. One of them, Ihor Lashyn has lived here since March 2024, fleeing the small town of Krasnohorivka in the Donbas, which was recently occupied. He was not willing to leave his home until a brutal shelling killed his neighbour and seriously injured Ihor too. He survived, but he will have to live to the end of his days with the injuries sustained in the shelling.
“I was transported by police and rescuers, and I woke up in the hospital” – Ihor tries to be brief when talking about the traumatic event. After several complicated surgeries to save what was left of his arm, surgeons also had to create a stoma on his injured stomach. Then he was forced to leave the hospital, which became his temporary home since his house was destroyed, and Krasnohorivka was directly besieged at that time. “I had no place to go, so I stayed in the hospital until last, but it was not a sanatorium and I could not stay there after the treatment was over” he says. Social workers helped him find a place in this shelter and in restoring his documents.
“It’s good here, no shelling, a yard and it’s very quiet” Ihor shows us his spot on the bunk bed in the small room, stepping on the soft carpet. All 6 inhabitants take turns to keep the room’s floor clean, but with a modern vacuum cleaner the carpet “can be handled even by one hand.” Today it is his turn to clean the room, and he copes with the new device, provided with the support of the American people through the Ukraine Response Consortium.
The daily routine of the shelter residents is quite simple: in the morning, the working population of the shelter gathers to the sound of the new refrigerator door opening and eggs scrambling on the new induction stove provided by the Hungarian Interchurch Aid, while the other pensioners and those who are not burdened with job duties stay here to continue their daily routine of caring for their wards and loved ones, like Mykola and his wife Lyudmyla.
“I’ve been taking care of her like this for 4 years now” says Mykola. His wife has suffered two strokes, lost the ability to speak, and cannot walk without his support, but despite the hard work of caring for his wife, the man does not complain. “She is my wife, we are together in everything. Moreover, now we are in such good housing, what can I complain about?” – he points to the room and helps his wife by feeding her a spoonful of soup. Caring for a post-stroke patient is a difficult job, but Mykola copes with everything himself, constantly comparing how hard it used to be. Hiding in their basement fearing the shelling and aerial attacks for the larger part of the past 2 years in his native Toretsk in Donetsk oblast, he also often had to carry his bedridden wife between his own home and his relatives’ apartment.
The couple has been living in Motivation to Live NGO’s shelter for 2 weeks now, and the improvements implemented within HIA’s community grant programme allows him to take care of his wife better than before. A walk-in shower makes it easier to take baths, a modern washing machine and dryer take over the daily laundry, the clean walls without mould in the corners create a safe environment for those who already struggle with health issues. “I now have time for coffee and a little chat with my new neighbours” – half of the household chores are taken care of by modern home appliances provided with financial support of Ukrainian Response Consortium partners.
Despite the challenges they face, the residents of the “Motivation to Live” shelter find solace and support in their new community. These facilities, equipped with modern appliances and improved living conditions, have transformed not just the physical environment but also the morale of those living there. Residents like Ihor and Mykola can now focus on healing and rebuilding their lives, supported by a network that fosters independence and dignity. This collaborative effort highlights the significant impact of grassroots initiatives and international partnerships in providing refugees with the resources and community they need to overcome adversity and look towards a hopeful future.
This story was made possible by the generous support of the American people through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) under Grant Agreement “Ukraine Response Consortium: Providing Multi-Sectoral Humanitarian Assistance to Conflict-Affected Populations in Ukraine (2023-2024)”
