A village in the Ivano-Frankivsk region sets up a shelter for displaced women and children

What is the problem?

Over the past year, the number of displaced people in Ukraine's western regions has increased significantly. This became a challenge for local communities.

As of mid-July 2023, about 150,000 internally displaced people live in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, and there is an urgent need to provide them with comfortable living conditions.

What is the solution?

To find resources for setting up shelters for displaced people, communities turn to international organizations and experts for support. The Kosiv community in the Ivano-Frankivsk region, with the support of the U-LEAD with Europe program, received funds for the equipment of a shelter for 40 people. The local government also attracted funds from other donors and resources from the regional and local budgets. The shelter opened in the spring of 2023 in the picturesque village of Verbovets.

In peacetime, the Kosiv community had 32,000 thousand inhabitants. During the war, due to forced displacement, the number of people registered here increased by 18% in the peak months of spring-summer 2022. It was a serious challenge for the community.

Volodymyr Petrychuk, the deputy mayor for humanitarian issues, says that a reception center for internally displaced persons was created in the community in the first days of the full-scale invasion. He worked around the clock to quickly assist people in need fleeing the war zones in the Zaporizhzhia, Kherson, Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Luhansk regions.

Initially, the premises of schools were also used for accommodation, but before the resumption of classes, the community began arranging shelters. One shelter was opened in the village of Smodna, and it is still 95% full. To arrange the second one, the local authorities turned to the experts of the U-LEAD with Europe Program for help.

Premises for shelter were allocated in the village of Verbovets. The Starokosiv Lyceum used to be located here, and before that there was a collective farm office. The building is solid, with an area of approximately 400 square meters, but it did not have water and sewage and, therefore, no toilets. The community could not adapt it to the needs of IDPs without assistance.

Ihor Melnychuk, the executive director of the Development Agency of the Prykarpattia community, and an expert on regional development of the U-LEAD with Europe Program, helped the Kosiv community to write a project application for a grant from an international organization.

"These were quick projects financed by the International Renaissance Foundation. We did not carry out capital repairs, but thanks to the grant, we helped the city council to purchase the necessary sanitary ware and boilers so that bathrooms could be properly equipped and internally displaced persons had a place to wash," says Melnychuk.

To complete the building, the city council actively attracted donor funds, assistance from charitable organizations, and co-financing from local budgets. 

Svitlana Onyshchuk, head of the Ivano-Frankivsk Regional Military Administration, emphasized during the facility's opening in March 2023 that the shelter is the result of cooperation between the authorities and international donors. The total amount of money used to create a shelter is ₴3.8 million. It was equipped with everything necessary for comfortable living, and ₴1.6 million was allocated from the regional budget.

A central sewer and water supply were brought to the building, modern bathrooms, showers, and a modern kitchen were assembled, with the heating system, gas boiler automation, electrical network, and doors replaced, as well as the attic insulated. Only cosmetic repairs were made in the residential premises — a major one would require much more significant investments and take significantly more time.

When all the work was completed, the head of the Kosiv City community, Yuriy Ploskonos, proudly shared that instead of four walls and a roof, the community got a room where about 40 people could live comfortably. The shelter can be used for different purposes after the end of the war and after people return home. It can also be a dormitory for the nearby  Starokosiv Lyceum – or a communal hostel – because after the war, the community plans to finish the cultural and artistic space Dzban as an institution for orphans or a rehabilitation institution.

How does it work?

The shelter has a shared kitchen, bathrooms, and three- and four-bedroom apartments. Recently, a charitable foundation helped equip a children's development space. Only forcibly displaced women and children are accepted for free long-term residence here.

Currently, there are still enough places to stay in the shelter. The number of forced migrants in the Kosiv community has significantly decreased.

Iryna Dimbrovska, the chief specialist of the department of promotion, relations, and economic development of the Kosiv city council, says: "We invite women with children who need long-term accommodation. We conclude a contract with a person, and they can live with us for six months or a year, depending on the circumstances."

Does it really work?

Lyudmyla Fedorenko came to Verbovets from then-occupied Kherson on April 5, 2022. Together with the children and the grandson, they got into the car, took the dog, and drove randomly to seek shelter.

They stopped in Verbovets, where they had never been before. "We were sheltered in the apartment by very kind people. We only paid for communal services," says Fedorenko.

The children went further abroad, and she and her favorite chihuahua stayed in this apartment. In Kherson, the family lived in the Korabelnyi district, which suffered from shelling and experienced large-scale flooding after Russian sabotage at the Kakhovka Reservoir. Therefore, Fedorenko does not plan to return home yet.

Fedorenko has not retired yet, so it was essential for her to get social housing. She addressed her situation to the city council, and after the repairs were completed, she received a place in the shelter.

"I am very, very grateful to these people who created such conditions for us: renovated rooms, a very well-equipped kitchen, new refrigerators, stoves, washing machines, hot water. There are dishes for cooking and blankets. We still can't believe that we live here for free. Thank you very much for everything you have done for the displaced people," Fedorenko says emotionally.

"Good, quiet, calm. Everyone is so polite," Fedorenko shares.

Residents of the shelter are not deprived of attention: they are often visited by social service workers who are interested in their living conditions and needs.

Deputy Mayor Petrychuk says that people receive psychological help if necessary and possible.

Unfortunately, among the internally displaced persons in Kosiv, there are already those who died in the Russian-Ukrainian war. Serhii Dyadenko from the Mykolayiv region found shelter in Kosiv with his parents. He later joined the army and was killed in July 2022. He was buried in Yavoriv, where his parents live now.

"We help people as much as we can because we understand that this is not their problem, but ours for the time being," says Petrychuk.

Photos provided by Kosiv City Council