Crisis in Ukraine: JDC Responds

More than two and a half years into the Ukraine crisis, JDC’s humanitarian response to the ongoing conflict continues — caring for the most vulnerable Jews.

November 13, 2024

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Providing Aid to the Most Vulnerable Jews

A retired music teacher, Victoria Paper remembers when she could easily “walk a kilometer just to buy a pastry.” Now 73, she lives in Odesa on a meager pension, contending with limited mobility and struggling to make ends meet when most of her fixed income goes toward medicines and skyrocketing utility bills.

“I used to run, I could swim 500 meters — and now I’m afraid,” she said ruefully. “If there were no JDC, I probably wouldn’t be alive right now. Somehow, despite centuries of destruction, despite the Holocaust, despite everything, the miracle is that the Jewish people arose like a phoenix from the ashes to lend a helping hand to each other.

 Victoria Paper (right) sits with her JDC homecare worker in Odesa.

Across Ukraine, more than 53,500 vulnerable Jews have received JDC assistance since the start of the crisis, with more than 35,000 receiving ongoing emergency aid, like food, medicine, homecare, and evacuation services.

Additionally, more than 5,900 internally displaced persons (IDPs) have received critical support from JDC and local Jewish communities across the country — like Alona Tokareva, who fled hard-hit Kharkiv for the relative safety of Poltava and relies on the organization for rent assistance, trauma support, and more.

“We got so much help from the Jewish community that just saying ‘thank you’ is not enough,” said Tokareva, who now volunteers at Poltava’s JDC-supported Hesed Nefesh social welfare center, teaching English to teens. “Without JDC these two years, I can’t imagine. You know that anytime you need help, they will help in every way possible.”

For the thousands of individuals — JDC workers, Hesed partners, and volunteers — who do this sacred work, it feels like a privilege to be able to make an impact during such difficult days.

We don’t think that one day we’ll become a part of history. We think about what we are doing here and now.”

Elizaveta Sherstuk

Hesed Haim Director

“We know our clients are living in the same houses and receiving the same vital help from homecare workers just as before,” said Elizaveta Sherstuk, director of the JDC-supported Hesed Haim social welfare center in Sumy. “We understand that despite air alarms and blackouts, we must keep living.”

Education

Employment

Trauma Support

Hryhorii Hryshilo

I tell them it’s normal to care for your mental health, and I show people they have the resources to deal with difficult situations.

It’s going to be a long path toward recovery for all of us, and though we’re just taking our first steps, we walk this path together.”

Hryhorii Hryshilo

Psychologist and Madrich

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