A house burned down after being hit by cluster munitions. Domestic animals and cattle could not be saved. Its residents are now forced to live in a barn, since the walls are the only things that are left from the house. There are hundreds of such stories. The public organization “Family Garden” records stories of people, while proving that the whole of Ukraine is one big family.
We talked to “Family Garden’s” team who provide housing for those who have lost their homes. The organization’s CEO, Maria Shyian, the fundraiser, Dmytro Tumarkin, and the PR-expert, Lyudmyla Cherkas, told us about why it is important to let families stay on their land and what modular houses consist of.
Volunteers with experience
Mariya Ivanivna and her husband, Hryhoriy Oleksiyovych, come from the village Kyinka, which is located in Chernihiv province. The couple lost their home back at the end of February 2022. A Russian shell hit the house after which it burned down to ashes, just like all utility rooms nearby.
Hryhoriy Yukhymovych’s family are from the same village. They found themselves homeless due to Russian shelling with cluster munitions. The family were forced to live in a barn. A few walls were everything left from the house.
Viktor, Nina and their four children, Oleksii, Maksym, Iryna and Yevhen, come from the village of Shestovytsia in Chernihiv province. They lost their house, garage and car. Near their yard a column of enemy’s military vehicles were stationed. They caught fire and it passed on their property.
Oleksandr comes from the village of Bilmachivka (Chernihiv province). His family’s 30-year-old house burned down. The fire consumed all their property, with their pets having failed to get out of the house. Oleksandr’s family members survived, but they now have no place to live.
In the village of Trysvyatska Sloboda (Chernihiv province), Hryhoriy Vasylyovych and his wife lost their home that they had been building all their life. He sustained burns trying to save the cattle from the barn nearby.
Many more similar stories can be read on the website of the organization. Donations, which may save lives, can only be made there.
Mariya Shyian, the CEO of the project, says that at first a social startup, “Tera Monada”, was created. It was this project that was aimed at producing modular houses and restoring them. Soon afterwards, in August 2022, her team founded a non-profit public organization “Family Garden” to transparently raise funds for housing and reporting.
“100 percent of the money donated by people is spent on housing. We find it important to make this process as transparent and open as possible. When a person makes a donation, they want to know what their money is spent on, they want to see a clear result. Therefore, we show them exactly which family gets their money in the form of a house“, – says Mariya.
All reports about the project’s activities can be sent on request. Mariya believes that Ukrainians have had to quickly acquire charity skills. The level of support and donations has noticeably increased.
“The teams of “Family Garden” and “Tera Monada” consist of volunteers with experience who have been active in charity since 2014. Before 2022 they, however, did not have any legal status‘, the fundraiser, -Dmytro Tumarkin, says.
Everyone who has ever been involved in volunteering, like Mariya, for example, was taking care of the homeless by providing them with food and accommodation for the night. Mariya also supported those whose homes were damaged by fire. She also visited kindergartens. The PR-expert, Lyudmyla, was dealing with inclusion issues. At first, she traveled to different Ukrainian cities to check them for inclusion. Subsequently, she focused her attention on inclusion at high schools. After February 24 she switched to military volunteering by sending tourniquets, bulletproof vests and helmets to the army. She also worked as a press secretary for one of the volunteer battalions.
Dmytro has also been helping the military since 2014. However, after Kyiv province was liberated, he delivered humanitarian cargoes to towns and villages, seeing the scope of damage for himself. He had no doubt about the need to provide housing for those who have lost their homes. It was his priority.
At present the team are working in Kyiv and Chernihiv province. First houses were set in the village of Makariv, Kyiv province. Dmytro remembers seeing enormous damage in the villages of Kukhari, Borodyanka and Makariv.
Losing everything
It is Lyudmyla who pays visits to family and lends an ear to their stories. Dmytro says he finds it at times hard to publish their stories on the website as there is much pain, twists and turns of the fates of different people behind each story.
“I made appointments with seven families in the village of Krasne, Chernihiv province. After my fifth appointment I came to realize that I no longer could speak to anyone since each story struck a painful chord with me. I try not to appear an indifferent listener or take each story as something mundane. I do my best to hear everyone out, living their pain through me and passing the message on to someone who can help them“, – says Lyudmyla.
Lyudmyla believes that the advantage of her organization lies in its team’s ability to lend a sympathetic ear to those affected. The affected families desperately need help and open up even more with every visit. They eagerly share news. For example, a family has been presented with a puppy. Next day they allocate a place and a bowl for the puppy. That is how new houses get new impressions, warmth and coziness.
“Fear helps find as many weapons as possible and donate money for the army. We have got a family now, whose father joined the Ukrainian Armed Forces. Their house was completely demolished by a Russian bomb. His sick daughter and a son, who is in the 3rd grade and who loves math and dreams of becoming a programmer, are everything he is left with. They have no home to return to” – Lyudmyla says.
She adds that no one has declined the offer to help. Sometimes people are ashamed of telling their story. For example, when journalists came to cover a story of a family building their new home, the father admitted that he was not in the state to tell his story on camera. His son helped him out and spoke to the journalists. Lyudmyla says that one has to approach every single person differently. They must feel that you are not indifferent.
Staying on their own land
One house can be reconstructed in 3 or 4 weeks, since its design allows disassemble, assemble and transport its parts. Dmytro says a family can live in such a house for as long as ten years.
Mariya says that the frame of the house is made of galvanized steel, which makes it more durable and practical than wooden frames, since they cannot rot or wear out. Special sandwich panels covered with polymer coating and mineral wool are put onto the frame for insulation. According to Mariya, these materials allow the house to keep warmth in the winter and preserve cool in the summer. Metal-plastic windows and doors are installed in modular houses. They also have everything needed for living, like furniture, household appliances, electrical heaters, kitchen utensils, bed linen and decor. There is everything for people to move in.
“Our concept is about providing people with everything necessary. We are not talking about lavishness, only basic things – bed, linen, pillows, plumbing fixture, hot water, fridge, table and chairs, so that a person can come home, boil water in the kettle, brew tea and start their life anew“, – Mariya says.
Only those families are picked who have no other place to live in, or who are short of money to purchase their own house. Representatives of amalgamated territories communities check each request separately.
“We work with communities who have lists of people in need of housing. We don’t accept requests. However, we check lists ourselves. We find it important to have people on our team who are needed by the community to rebuild homes and help carry on living for local people, teachers, doctors, electricians, constructor workers“, – Dmytro says.
Everyone on the team knows families of whom they take special care. For instance, Lyudmyla looks after puppies who have become homeless together with their owners. Alina, who is a marketing specialist, wants to provide housing for families with older members as soon as possible,
“Every region of Ukraine is not only a plot of land, it is also our home. It is for this reason that I find it of utmost importance to make sure people live comfortably there. I want them to have a school where their children could study, I want the puppies that are so dear to me to live in nice houses; I want grannies to grow old in their places of origin. This is why the idea of letting people stay on their land is so important to us“, – Lyudmyla says.
She also says that the practice of building separate modular towns is being chastised, since people are effectively living in isolation. They have no jobs and they are far away from their homes. “Family Garden” wants these communities to recover and people to stay where they are loved.
“So “Family Garden” is not only a garden next to your house. It also represents the whole of Ukraine – all its territories including the occupied ones that will surely be Ukrainian once again’, Lyudmyla says. “This is our mutual home that we are to recover together”.
Not only overwintering
Dmytro says that various categories of benefactors donate to modular houses. For example, businesspeople, charitable foundations, some philanthropists or International organizations. However, a donation can be made by anyone since there is no such a thing as ‚a small donation‘ – every single Hryvnia takes the dream of a cherished house one step closer.
Dmytro believes that many organizations are now focused on providing emergency or one-time aid, which means that the question of overwintering arises. However, “Family Garden” operates systematically.
“I suggest concentrating not on windows or roofs, but on housing. The process of recovery is quite complicated, but it is already happening. After WWII mankind has never experienced a war of such a scale. The front line extends over 2500 km, which is effectively half of the front line in the times of World War II, the only difference being that now we’re talking about only one country“, – Dmytro says.
As of now the foundation has raised enough funds to construct 20 houses. Not all of the houses have been built yet. However, by mid-February 20 families will have received places to live. The foundation has also won a tender for 40 houses. Maria says that more people will get the opportunity to start their life anew on their own land.
The houses are quite universal. Families are adjusting them to their own needs, rearranging furniture pieces or bringing in new ones. Each house is transferred to the ownership of families who then decide what to do with it next. They can re-donate it to others or to the army. Maria says,
“For the time being we are not constructing houses for the Armed Forces of Ukraine, but we are conducting talks regarding the possibility of such a project. We do want to support our military people who are forced to live in kindergartens without showers or toilets. They will instead get the chance to live in comfortable houses”.
