Celebrating the first anniversary of Future for Ukraine: a year of unity in the desire to help

A year ago, our founders announced the launch of Future for Ukraine. The idea of creating the foundation came to them just a week after the start of the full-scale war as the only way to help Ukrainians cope with the most difficult experience. In this article, we want to share how this year went. 

From the very beginning: women's synergy aimed at victory

The team of the Ukrainian office of Future for Ukraine was formed in early March on the initiative of several Ukrainian women who were forced to go abroad to flee the war with their lives. Our founders came to the charity sector from business and had already experienced running their own projects. When our country faced an extremely difficult situation, the women of the foundation realized that they had to immediately combine their experience and expertise to bring victory closer. Rebuilding and shaping the future of their country became their main goal. This is how our foundation got its name: Future for Ukraine. The ambitiousness and tireless energy of our founders helped us make such a huge breakthrough in just one year of existence.

During the year, we brought together energetic, courageous Ukrainians with a desire to win despite all the difficulties. Experts from various fields joined the team, but, like our founders, most of them experienced dealing with charity for the first time. Together, we launched new initiatives; covered hundreds of kilometers on humanitarian missions to hot spots; put wounded soldiers back on their feet as part of a prosthetics project; and took care of displaced Ukrainian children and women.

Our foundation focuses its activities on four main areas:

• medicine
• help for children;
• humanitarian missions;
• psychological assistance for women who have survived violence by the russian military;

Medical direction

Giving a chance for the future and a quick recovery is one of the most important missions of the FFU. We focus our efforts on every Ukrainian, including the country's defenders.

Every day, the military of the Armed Forces of Ukraine does their best for us, defending Ukrainian territories. Unfortunately, they pay for our freedom with their lives and health. That is why, together with our partners, our Foundation has launched two initiatives, including the installation of a metal osteosynthesis system for complex bone injuries and prosthetics and rehabilitation for the military abroad.

The new prostheses allow the military to return to active life. For example, Oleksandr Chaika, a children's choreography teacher, returned to teaching within a few months after prosthetics and rehabilitation and is even expanding his groups for new students. And Dmytro Skliarenko was so inspired by his capabilities with the modern prosthesis that he is ready to return to the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

Help for children

Our children are the future of the Ukrainian nation. We all understand how important it is to do everything possible to prevent the trauma of war from affecting their mental health. Taking care of children is one of the most important areas of the FFU foundation's work. This is how the CHILDREN HUB was first established in Warsaw. It is a center for the adaptation, development, and psychological support of Ukrainian displaced children. In addition to offering wholesome entertainment for children, CHILDREN HUB also aims to preserve national identity, so this space allows children to communicate in Ukrainian and learn more about their motherland.

On the eve of the first anniversary of the Foundation's work, the LEVCHYK SPECTRUM HUB was also opened in Lviv. This was made possible thanks to the help of philanthropist Vadym Stolar and other companies that joined together to launch this center. The purpose of the hub is to develop and socialize displaced children with autism spectrum disorders, as well as to adapt them to the new realities of life during the war. In February 2023, LEVCHYK was launched in test mode. 

Humanitarian aid

The humanitarian crisis has become a huge challenge for Ukraine. When thousands of settlements faced the consequences of the occupation and food shortages, we expanded our activities and launched a humanitarian aid center.

Our main goal is to support Ukrainians and meet their basic needs during the war. Our team goes on humanitarian missions to the frontline and de-occupied territories of Kharkiv, Donetsk, Mykolaiv, and Kherson regions and delivers food, hygiene products, household chemicals, medicines, animal feed, etc. to locals.

Psychological help for women

In early 2023, our foundation launched the GIDNA project. This is a project of qualified psychological assistance for women who have experienced or witnessed violence by the russian military.

Mental trauma is felt even more painfully amid war, and due to the deep-seated fear of public condemnation, women tend to keep silent about their experiences. Our project involved psychotherapists trained by the Israel Trauma Coalition and now receive regular supervision from colleagues from Israel.

Partners

Over the past year, we have enlisted the support of more than 40 Ukrainian and international partners in various fields. Every package of humanitarian aid, every movement of a soldier after wounds, and every smile of a child who was forced to flee the war is a merit of fruitful cooperation and support from businesses and non-profit organizations.

We are extremely grateful to our partners in all areas and would like to name each of them.