Dmytro Khrypko, Ihor Onyshchenko, and Yuriy Hordon are engineers from Dnipropetrovska and Zaporizka oblasts who help restore houses damaged by the war.
Dmytro and Ihor visit damaged homes, talk to people, and fill out questionnaires together. They take measurements of damaged structures, calculate the cost, deal with documentation, and look for the necessary materials. Yuriy coordinates the team that will work on the restoration of the housing.
“If we leave the city, we will leave people in need of help without hope,” Yuriy Hordon said on working for the Foundation.
Yuriy joined the Foundation in January 2023. He applied for the position of engineer but was offered to become the coordinator of the Zaporizka oblast and later the manager for housing reconstruction.
- I manage a team that is directly involved in housing restoration, construction, and repair work.
He tries to recruit people with relevant professional education and experience to his team. In addition to working with engineers, Yuriy is responsible for coordinators who work with people in need and communicate with local authorities. According to the manager, the coordinators must also have the appropriate education and be committed to their work.
Yuriy is originally from Zaporizhzhia. He works and helps his native region.
- “When the full-scale invasion began, the city came to a standstill. There were huge traffic jams, many people were leaving by train, supermarket shelves were empty, and there were queues. At first, of course, we were very scared, but after a month, the residents adapted to the situation,” he shares his memories.
According to him, the number of locals in Zaporizhzhia has halved, but about 200,000 IDPs have come there.
Yuriy says that the city has become neglected during the war: high-rise buildings in the city center have been destroyed, and many windows are boarded up. Now, everyone needs support and help.
This is what motivates Yuriy to stay in his hometown, to see it come alive again.
- Our Foundation helps with minor and medium repairs to homes affected by the war. Thanks to our team working in dangerous areas, people have the opportunity to receive this help.
By the way, finding a professional is also a challenge: few people are willing to work in dangerous areas. Sometimes, it is difficult to find construction materials, and sometimes, there is not enough experience in psychology to communicate with the affected people. Yuriy tries to compensate for his lack of knowledge by reading professional literature.
“Residents trust us because we are frank with them and openly show them our work,” Dmytro Khrypko says about his experience of working with the Foundation.
Dmytro joined the Foundation in February 2022. He is a housing restoration professional in Zaporizka oblast. Before that, he was working on complex house repairs.
“Each site visit begins with a person’s story. They tell us about everything that happened to them in the city: the explosions, who helped them, how they survived all these events,” says Dmytro.
Sometimes, people don’t know who to turn to when their homes are destroyed by shelling. That’s why our coordinators and engineers go to the scene to offer help.
“Our work begins with filling out a questionnaire that provides the necessary data for the project. Then, we begin to survey and measure the damaged house or apartment. At the same time, we communicate with the residents and listen to their stories, trying to calm them down because sometimes people are very upset about what happened. Residents trust us because we are frank with them and openly show them our work.”
Dmitry considers patience to be the most important thing in his work.
“When you meet a person, hear their story, and see that they need help, you want to start working immediately. However, first, you need to go through all the paperwork and only then start repairing.”
So far, 346 turnkey repairs have been completed in Zaporizhzhia, and the work continues.
“It is really great to be able to help people rebuild damaged homes,” says Ihor Onyshchenko about his work in Dnipro.
Ihor is working on the restoration of housing in Dnipropetrovska Oblast. He joined the team of the Charitable Foundation 2023. Prior to that, he headed the capital construction department.
Ihor considers the opportunity to rebuild his country thanks to the Foundation and its work to be the value of his job. After all, he is a native of Dnipro, now one of Ukraine’s most shelled cities.
“As a resident of Dnipropetrovska Oblastst, I am proud to take part in rebuilding my city. It is really great that the Charitable Foundation, together with international donors, is involved in restoring my country. I hope that over time, we will have even more opportunities to provide assistance to people,” says Ihor.
76 repairs have already been completed in the Dnipropetrovska Oblast.
The CARE Ukraine Winterisation and Resilience Program project is being implemented by the Charity Foundation “Stabilization Support Services” with the support of the humanitarian organization CARE.Ukraine.