ASSISTANCE TO FAMILY-TYPE CHILDREN’S HOMES – MATYASH, HORZOV AND KRYVKO (39,890 UAH )

We provided humanitarian aid to three family-type children’s homes, totaling 39,890 UAH.

For the Family-Type Children’s Home of Serhii Matyash – children’s goods, food products, and hygiene items were purchased and delivered, amounting to 13,866 UAH.

The Family-Type Children’s Home of Serhii Matyash, located in Kamianske, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, accommodates 7 children (refugees from Pokrovsk, Donetsk Oblast). The home was established in 2020 by Serhii Matyash, who himself grew up in a foster family. Despite facing personal challenges, Serhii remained committed to the well-being of the children and, with the support of his current wife, continued to provide a loving home for them.

The onset of the full-scale war brought additional difficulties, including a rise in prices and an influx of internally displaced persons. Serhii decided to help as much as he could and met his current wife during this time. Together, they are raising 7 children, two of whom are biological, and five are under their care.

However, the family faces numerous challenges, including the need for medical interventions and rehabilitation for two children with disabilities, home expansion and renovation, and other needs. Despite these challenges, the children are described as talented, involved in various extracurricular activities, and dreaming of diverse future careers.”Our children are very talented. They participate in various clubs and activities. The oldest, a 10-year-old boy, plays football and goes to the gym. Together with his sister, they attend swimming lessons. The children also take dance classes and have a tutor to improve their school subjects. We want to ensure their comprehensive development and not deprive them of hobbies. Our kids are cheerful. They already dream of becoming police officers, educators, famous football players, and doctors. They also dream of earning money to buy a huge house for our entire family and live with us until old age.”

For the Family-Type Children’s Home of Horzova Nelia, food products worth 11,298 UAH were provided.

7 children, village Bilky, Zakarpattia region.

The Horzov family, Petro and Nelia, created a foster family in 2010 by taking care of Ania Hryniuk, who was already at the age of 17 but was still studying in the 10th grade and living in an orphanage. Nelia worked as a prosecutor for the protection of orphaned children, and that’s how she met Ania. With the desire to take care of Ania, Nelia and her husband decided to undergo foster parent training and take Ania into their care and residence. Ania finished school, entered university with the support of her new parents, and now has her own family with two little children. Soon after Ania left the family. Petro and Nelia felt a great need to take care of more children. In 2014, they took two boys and two girls. Shortly thereafter, two more boys joined the family. When the children grew up, in 2021 Nelia and Petro took two more girls under their care, raising a total of 8 children

“Our main task in raising children is to ensure that they receive comprehensive education,” says foster mother Nelia. “We personally help them in their studies because children from orphanages often struggle with reading and multiplication tables, showing educational neglect. Our children perform well academically, and our goal is for them to continue their education after school and pursue professions that align with their passions. Our eldest son, Mykola, became a pastry chef; Maryanka, in her third year at university, is studying to become a teacher of Ukrainian and English. Klavdiya is studying to become a salesperson. Our children are hardworking, enjoy growing vegetables, helping with household chores, and have interests in sports and information technology. Bogdan dreams of having his own laptop to develop computer literacy; Vasilyk is involved in football, Nazarchyk, with special needs, aspires to become a doctor and dreams of living in his own apartment. Liliana, a child with special needs, wishes to study to become a chef, and Victoria dreams of becoming a teacher, having her own laptop, and a personal room. Additionally, the children are growing up in a family environment, taking care of chores, cooking, ironing, selecting school clothes, and maintaining personal hygiene. We dedicate all our love and time to them.”

Last year, the absence of electricity during the winter days, cold weather, and lack of heating with 7 children in the house became a challenging ordeal for the family. Despite offers to move abroad, they chose to stay in their home, living on their land, and hoping that the enemy would be overcome.

At the beginning of the war, the Horzov family provided shelter to many internally displaced families with children.

For the Family-Type Children’s Home of Inna Kryvko, household and hygiene products were provided, totaling 14,726 UAH.

Inna and her husband always dreamed of having a large family. When their only biological son grew up, the couple realized they were ready to welcome another child into their family. Thus, under Inna and her husband’s care, Angelina became a part of their family (who is now 20 years old). Seven years later, as Angelina adapted and grew, the couple decided to create a foster family. In 2011, they welcomed another child into their family, a five-year-old named Milanka. Soon after, two more children joined the Kryvko family: a girl named Nadya and a boy named Sasha. Two years later, the local authorities proposed establishing a Family-Type Children’s Home and accommodating yet another boy.

Currently, the family is raising 9 children. Inna’s eldest biological son is married, but unfortunately, he and his wife do not have children of their own. Therefore, they also welcomed four orphaned children into their family.

“During the war, we accommodated refugees in our home,” says Inna. “These were similar Family-Type Children’s Homes and foster families like ours, but from the regions where it was more dangerous. From the first day of the war until June 2022, we hosted over 80 people. Sometimes, we had 30-40 children in our home simultaneously. We picked up families from train stations, and some reached us by car. They stayed with us, ate, bathed, warmed up, and then we assisted them in evacuation.”

The children in Kryvko family love to sing and participate in a music school. Twelve-year-old Artem plays football in the main lineup of Lviv FC “Kopa,” has won medals, and participated in an international championship among junior teams in Warsaw. The older girls are involved in hip-hop dancing in dance studios. Milana dreams of becoming a dermatologist, while the boys aspire to be mechanics and programmers.

“We all dream that the war will end, that there will be no more endless air raids.”