Before the war, Larysa worked as a Ukrainian language and literature teacher in her native Chulanivka, Kherson Region. However, warfare and occupation not only destroyed the usual life of the woman and her son Dmytro but kept them in fear every day, taking away any hope for a happy future.
“In August, the occupiers visited teachers’ homes and blackmailed them into cooperation. The Russians took the son of my colleague and kept him to force him to work under the Russian program,” recalls Larysa.

The next day after this frightening event, the woman, her son Dmytro, her sister, and nephew Yevhen fled to the territory controlled by Ukraine in search of salvation. Fortunately, thanks to Save Ukraine’s Fort Home project, the family was able to find safety again.

In March 2023, Save Ukraine placed Larysa’s family in a comfortable modular house in Kolomyia. There, the project coordinator and the local church helped the family draw up all the necessary documents, organized the resumption of education for Dmytro and Yevhen, and provided the family with constant humanitarian support. Soon, Larysa found a job as a teacher at an online school, which allowed her to support her family and gave her a little sense of stability.

The Save Ukraine team did not leave the family in trouble even when the tragedy occurred – Larysa’s sister died of cancer. Save Ukraine volunteers helped organize the funeral, provided the family with moral and spiritual support, and provided legal support in the registration of guardianship of nephew Yevhen.

The story of this family is an example of how the Fort Home project helps internally displaced Ukrainians not only to find shelter but also to start a new life after the war experience.