November 2024 Volume 1. No. 4

Newsletter and Periodic Report for Stakeholders and Benefactors of the Fund (August–October 2024)

PRAY ● INFORM ● HELP

Dear friends,

Thanks to your generous support, the Healing of Wounds of the War in Ukraine Fund (HWF) of the Ukrainian Catholic Church in the U.S. has collected $2,503,781 during the period from January-October 2024. The fund has supported 54 projects distributing $1,221,876.

Since our last reporting in July 2024, the Fund’s Bishops’ Board has approved 14 projects. Over 35 institutions on the ground, most of them run by the Ukrainian Catholic Church, received finances for their projects. Almost 60% of the projects supported were dedicated to healing the mental and spiritual wounds of the people affected by the war in Ukraine.

We are now approaching winter. The continuous Russian bombing of the Ukrainian energy infrastructure puts in jeopardy civilians facing the freezing cold. Please be generous in supporting our Fund as it provides assistance for our brothers and sisters in Ukraine, so that they may persevere in defending their freedom with courage and resilience.

Maria and her family participate in the Healing & Support for Families Affected by the War Program conducted by Caritas Zhovkva and supported by the HWF Fund

MAIN DEVELOPMENTS IN UKRAINE

Ukraine is standing up to axis of evil that now includes Russia, Belarus, North Korea and Iran (allied with Syria, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Cuba, Vietnam, Mali, Myanmar, Hezbollah and Hamas)
President Zelensky presented a “Victory Plan” to the allies. The plan consists of five points and three additional “secret” points. The central point of the plan is Ukraine’s request to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), with full membership in the future. The plan places heavy emphasis on strengthening Ukraine’s defense.
Russian forces have intensified the use of glide bombs, bringing destruction to Ukrainian cities and killing innocent civilians. The Russian air force hurls as many as 3,000 glide bombs at Ukrainian troops and civilians every month.
North Korea has sent its troops to support the Russian offensive. Ukrainian intelligence estimates that 6,000 troops are to be deployed in the Kursk region.
In spite of thousands of Russian military casualties, the Russian offensive continues in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, causing more civilian displacement and a worsening humanitarian crisis in the country with over four million IDPs.
Russia has intensified its bombing of Ukrainian ports and foreign ships, jeopardizing the shipment of Ukrainian grain to other regions, including Africa and Asia. Ukraine exports enough grain to feed more than 400 million people (with the current population of Ukraine estimated to be 35 million).

PROGRAMS AND ACTIVITIES SUPPORTED

BY THE HEALING OF WOUNDS OF THE WAR

IN UKRAINE FUND IN 2024

HELPING TO HEAL, GIVING HOPE, AND BUILDING RESILIENCE

HWF helped to support fifteen rehabilitation programs (for both mental and physical rehabilitation) serving over 1,530 people. The Fund has worked with institutions which offer holistic healing for soul, mind, and body. Professional mental support is accompanied by the spiritual support of priests and religious who offer help and compassion.

The needs are enormous. It’s estimated that there are ten million Ukrainians at risk of mental illness caused by the Russian invasion.

Healing and support for families affected by the war in Ukraine, conducted by Caritas Ivano-Frankivsk

The Fund helped four hospitals bring hope and help for healing. Assistance was granted to children at the Okhmadyt Hospital in Kyiv after a Russian missile attack destroyed the hospital on July 8, 2024, killing doctors and wounding patients. The Fund worked directly with a Ukrainian Catholic medical chaplain, Fr. Vitalij Voetsa, who tirelessly serves children, showing Christ’s love and compassion to those in need.

Fr. Vitalij Voetsa delivers much-needed supplies to the children from Okhmadyt Hospital in Kyiv

Sister Sofia of the Order of the Mother of God of Fatima received an ultrasound machine to fulfill her dream to help IDPs and those in need in rural Ukraine

HWF supported 72 military chaplains, providing funds for their transportation (car repair and fuel), since the state does not pay for these expenses. Chaplains serve tirelessly at the frontlines, administering sacraments, bringing humanitarian relief to civilians, and risking their lives to save other lives and souls.

Military chaplain Fr. Rostyslav Vysochan hears the confession of a soldier at the frontlines

Fr. Ivan Tabaka, a chaplain of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church, who was wounded by a Russian bombshell

The Fund has supported seven summer camps serving 173 children of IDPs and those in need. Children from eastern Ukraine have not been able to return to school after the Russian invasion, which damaged 3,428 schools and completely destroyed another 365. The remaining school buildings in the region cannot be opened because of the constant air raids and bombing. Summer rehabilitation camps conducted in western Ukraine helped the children to heal from war trauma, restoring a small part of their stolen childhood.

A school destroyed by a Russian attack in the Kharkiv region

Summer camp for children of IDPs and those in need, Caritas Drohobych

The Fund sponsored three shelters for 181 IDPs in western Ukraine. The country has approximately four million IDPs, and the number is increasing as Russian forces occupy new villages and towns in eastern Ukraine.

IDPs at a shelter run by the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church near Lviv

Metropolitan Borys Gudziak visits Ukraine

In August and September, Metropolitan Borys Gudziak, Archbishop of the Ukrainian Catholic Archeaparchy of Philadelphia, visited Ukraine. He has visited Ukraine 12 times since the Russian invasion in Ukraine. He was accompanied by Gina Christian, a multimedia reporter for OSV news. The Metropolitan expressed his closeness and solidarity with the people enduring the ongoing challenges and suffering. He visited local church communities, meeting priests, religious, government officials, and public leaders, and becoming better acquainted with relief initiatives in Kharkiv, Zaporizhia, Odesa, Kryviy Rih, and Mykolaiv.