Some 24,000 of JDC’s 160,000 elderly Hesed beneficiaries live in villages located hundreds—even thousands—of miles from the nearest city, with rudimentary heating in rundown homes open to the cold and damp. Many have no indoor plumbing; some still get their drinking water from wells. Once hardy, these now fragile elderly brave the elements several times a day just to fill basic human needs.
Varlen, 82, can still remember the power of the Nazi’s boot kicking his side before he was sent into forced labor for the German war machine. He was only 13, but his experiences in German-occupied Kiev transformed his adolescence into a daily battle for survival that he still recounts in vivid detail.
Anya’s home smells of freshly baked sweets and is abuzz with a cheerful mix of Russian, Yiddish, and Ukrainian. Each week, this 70-year-old hostess opens her living room to a group of fellow elderly Jews who have been convening here for over a decade with the support of JDC’s Warm Homes program.
Following her mother’s death, Katya was left alone to care for her blind father in their run-down apartment in Ukraine. Learn how JDC rescued this family and is reviving Katya’s Jewish future.
After a lifetime of hardship and loss, Zhanna was battling poverty and Ukraine’s brutal winters alone. Find out how a JDC Hesed social welfare center became her lifeline and helped break her isolation.
Nataliya is a single mom struggling to support her son with cerebral palsy. Find out how JDC brought this desperate family relief—and a sweet surprise—this Rosh Hashanah.
For Irina, a 79-year-old widow living below the poverty line in southeastern Ukraine, every day is a battle with loneliness. Learn how a JDC homecare visit this Rosh Hashanah will bring her vital relief, dignity, and human interaction.
For Vladimir and Irina, parenting two young children with debilitating illnesses is a daily struggle. Learn how JDC’s family integration camp connected them to new resources and renewed their strength.
Growing up in the Soviet Union, Julian and Victoria didn’t have access to Jewish formal education. But today their six-year-old son Daniel is in his fourth year at the Kharkov JCC and already speaks and reads basic Hebrew. Find out what’s next for the new Jewish generation in Ukraine.
Boris has not yet reached his bar mitzvah, but he—along with his mother and grandmother—has faced hardship that belies his age. Find out how JDC helps Boris and tens of thousands of poor Jewish children across the former Soviet Union.