What is the problem?
Two thousand houses
Olena and Dmytro's house was damaged twice — the first time by shelling on December 31, the second time — by water. Despite the occupation and later the strike of a landmine right in the yard, the couple stayed at home. A large two-story house built for their children and their own shop right next to it — here, the elderly couple had a feeling of home. When the water from the hydroelectric power plant began to flow, it became obvious that they had to leave. The entire first floor of the apartment was flooded.
Olena takes us through her yard and talks about the misfortunes that Russia brought to her home:
"On December 31, when we were preparing modestly to meet the year 2023, a mine flew into our front garden. I was standing, cutting the famous Olivier salad, and a mine flew here. Immediately, there were no windows. The siding from the building flew off completely, and everything was flooded. Shrapnel flew, and the gazebo caught fire."
Olena stands in her yard.
The strike also damaged the shop, but it was possible to restore it. It is more difficult to decide whether it is worth rebuilding it and the house after flooding.
"The first floor of the house is completely flooded. There are no things here now. We have already taken everything out. Now, we have to buy practically everything here from scratch. I have no idea how we will repair it because the house is already 45 years old, and here, on the Island, there is also underground water. It does not go anywhere, and the foundation pulls this water in," Olena explains.
Be that as it may, volunteers are already helping the family. Several men in blue work uniforms are making noise in the yard — two are tearing down the ceiling, which has managed to rot from the water, and two more are cleaning the yard from sand.
One of them, Daniel, came from Hungary. He is concentrating on carrying a shovel with sand and some kind of plant in it.
"I'm carrying flowers for the boss," the volunteer jokingly exclaims in English.
Daniel and his flower for "the boss."
The same "boss" cheerfully runs up to him and theatrically bows. The men burst into laughter and then go back to work.
The "gift" was accepted.
Olena and Dmytro's house must be prepared for winter. Otherwise, it will fall apart from dampness and cold. Two thousand similar houses on the Island, such as the one that ended up under water on June 6.
What is the solution?
The "I'm at home" center of the NGO Eleos Kherson works with families like Olena and Dmytro on the Island. Here, people receive a comprehensive package of services — humanitarian aid, psychological support, legal advice, etc. When we talk to the center's coordinator, Stanislav Kovalenko, he explains that Ukraine receives a lot of humanitarian aid, but food and clothing are not the main problems of people who have gone through the occupation, the loss of their homes, and dozens of other misfortunes.
"Many donors believe that all people's needs can be covered by giving them a can of stew. But what should a person do with it? Go to your broken home without electricity and water, sit down, and cry? It is another matter when people receive comprehensive care. This is how the "I'm at home" center works — in one place, you can get humanitarian assistance, psychological assistance, and consultations from social workers or lawyers," explains Kovalenko.
Stanislav Kovalenko, coordinator of the "I'm at home" center.
He says that since liberation in November 2022, residents of the Island have been left without electricity due to constant shelling. People here have survived all seasons without light. Electricity is gradually being restored to some houses, but the general situation is still sad. But if people have already adapted physically, doing it morally is much more difficult.
"At the first stage, basic needs should be covered. A person will not think about their emotional state when they have nothing to eat and nowhere to sleep. But when these needs are fulfilled, which most funds do, a person begins to think about what to do next, why all this happened to them, etc. The psychological state becomes unstable. For example, people are now afraid of another winter without electricity because most will not have heating. That's why they really need our center now," says Kovalenko.
Indeed, while talking with Kovaleno, we are always interrupted — people always come to the center. The "I'm at home" center has been open since the beginning of July. In the first month, individual consultations on social, legal, and psychological issues were provided to 62 people, 18 of whom were minors. The very work of the center became possible thanks to the financing of the EU and Japanese partners. In general, the center provides the following services:
– individual consultations on the restoration of documents;
– information on the possibility of restoring housing or receiving compensation if the housing was destroyed;
– referral to the necessary facilities and institutions (employment center, health care facilities, etc.);
– evacuation assistance;
– humanitarian aid.
The physical assistance center was launched thanks to several grants. The International Renaissance Foundation provided one of them in cooperation with the European Union. Viktoria Stokratiuk, manager of the Civil Sustainability program, says:
"We provided a grant to Eleos Kherson in June 2023. For us, it was such an operational response to the blow-up of the hydroelectric power plant. In the first week, we contacted our permanent partners to provide them with the necessary reinforcement as quickly as possible.
The "I'm at home" project already existed at the time when we supported it, and it was already about its development. There was a need to create an organization's office to have a place to provide care on the spot. To create new services in the community and strengthen the organization, we supported opening a center for crisis and emergency social-psychological assistance to the population. Our funding covers the rent of the premises and the provision of legal, psychological, and humanitarian services based on this center, as well as the work of the mobile team."
The Island today.
How does it work?
Tetyana and Anastasia are wards of the "I'm at home" center. Both come here for different services, starting with humanitarian aid and ending with a banal desire to talk to someone about their problems.
Tetyana says that she used to have her own underwear store, but on June 6, it was completely underwater, along with unsold goods.
"My business sank. I am sitting now, and I have nothing, no profit. There is not even a light. They don't turn it on for us. My child has started online learning at school, but how is he supposed to study if he can't even charge his phone?" says Tatyana with despair.
Anastasia, with Tetyana's daughter.
Women share — because the electricity has not returned to the neighborhood for so long, this topic began to be overgrown with rumors and myths. From the most recent — talk about the fact that to connect electricity to the apartment, you need to pay a bribe of ₴200. But in reality, it doesn't work like that.
"We already have new rumors every month. People want some kind of hope, so they look for it like this. Currently, support and assistance are provided by individual organizations. "I'm at home" gives us everything. We cannot wash off mold. It is believed that only the first floors were affected by the flooding. But my fifth one is completely moldy. Rats, cockroaches, fleas, midges, moths… Although there was nothing like that before the hydroelectric power plant was blown up. Actually, I come here most of the time for the means to combat all this," says Tetyana.
Anastasia's situation is similar. The woman says that after the liberation of the Island, her children persuaded her to leave for Kyiv. But after staying there for three months, she decided to return home.
"I can't find a job or housing there at a price that would suit me. And here, everything is my own. Although now with mold, it's my own," says Anastasia.
One of the houses on the Island.
While we are talking, more people are coming to the "I'm at home" center. When we manage to return to the conversation with Kovalenko, he says:
"There are already 203 people to whom we provided all the help they requested, and now their requests have already been closed. We deal exclusively with civil matters. We are not involved in the military, but not because we don't want to. We simply realized that there are categories of people invisible to the legal field. These are civilians who have been tortured and captured, families of prisoners and missing persons, wounded civilians, families whose homes have been destroyed, individuals whose relatives have died, and people whose homes have been flooded. They have no protection, and we are trying to give them what the state cannot give now."
Stokratiuk also speaks about the same mission:
"Such centers are always about the opportunity to help better, more and more effectively. We are all aware that today, the number of requests and needs of the population is enormous, and not always state service providers or social services have the resources to cope with them. It's really difficult. Therefore, when such centers appear, they greatly support the state. As a donor, we see value here from two sides. On the one hand, it is a reinforcement for the organization. On the other hand, it is insurance for the state and benefits for the population. Such hubs must appear in regional centers, small towns, and micro-districts. This greatly simplifies communication within the community."
Effective reconstruction starts with getting people back and supporting them. This is what the "I'm at home" center works for — to help you return home and make your home better.
The publication was prepared with the support of the European Union. Its content is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the position of the European Union. Eleos-Kherson NGO received support for the development of the "I'm at Home" center within the framework of the European Renaissance of Ukraine project, which is implemented by the International Renaissance Foundation with the financial support of the EU.
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