Svitlana Vegerya - participant of the regional contest "Woman of Donetsk Region" in 2025, nomination "The Power of Good and Unity"
Svitlana Vegerya is a woman who has gone from forced displacement to a great mission of creating goodness and unity. Her story proves that even in the most difficult times, you can find the strength to give others support and hope.
Before the war, Svitlana's family lived in Velyka Novosilka, Volnovakha district, ran a small business and initiated entertainment events for the community. However, the full-scale invasion forced them to leave their home and start over.
After moving to Vasylkivka, Synelnyky district, Svitlana became an active volunteer with the IDP organization Volunteer Coordination Logistics Center. She helped hundreds of families, including more than 400 IDP families. Her team won the Fundraiser program in the Most Responsive Team nomination, which confirmed the main thing: their work was about sincerity and humanity.
Children occupy a special place in Svetlana's activities. At the Velykonovosilkovo Community Support Center, she organized holidays, play programs, and workshops. A symbolic event was the creation of "Wish Maps", when even the youngest children learned to dream, and their drawings gave warmth and hope to adults.
But not only children but also adults needed a space for communication. This is how "warm evenings" for IDPs appeared, where people cried and sang, remembered the past and found new support in each other.
Recently, Svitlana was forced to move again - this time to the city of Kamianske in the Dnipro region. But with the move, she brought her most valuable possessions - her open heart and her desire to help. She is already looking for new opportunities to volunteer, organize events and support people.
Svitlana Vegerya is a woman who turns pain into strength and despair into unity. Her story is the story of a woman from Donetsk Oblast who, having lost her home, was able to create a new community of kindness and humanity.
Read the detailed story of the contestant here: https://surl.li/emduep