The support centers for residents of the Bakhmut city community "With Bakhmut in the Heart", established to support IDPs, have become important islands of refuge for those who have found themselves in difficult life circumstances due to the war, forced to integrate into a new environment, lost their homes and jobs, and need warmth and attention.
The support centers operate in Kyiv, Dnipro, Zhovti Vody, Kryvyi Rih, Poltava, Odesa, Kharkiv, Chernihiv, Lviv, Kropyvnytskyi and Kamianets-Podilskyi, serving about 32.8 thousand residents of Donetsk Oblast (14.8 thousand families with 6.5 thousand children) who are forced to integrate into a new environment due to the war.
The locations provide a wide range of services, including humanitarian aid, advice on social, administrative and legal issues, medical support, and educational and cultural events.
In addition, the support centers regularly host on-site visits from specialists of the Administrative Services Department of the Bakhmut City Council (ASC), the Department of Social Protection, the Department of Education, the Slavyansko-Bakhmutskoye Department of the Kramatorsk Branch and the Pokrovsky Branch of the Donetsk Regional Employment Center, the Pension Fund of Ukraine, the Bakhmut District Prosecutor's Office, the Bakhmut Bureau of Technical Inventory, as well as various events for children and families, creative and remedial classes, master classes, etc.
The support centers have a hotline and telegram channels for constant contact with residents, prompt response to the needs and livelihoods of displaced persons, and provision of information and advice on all issues. Through these communication channels and directly during visits, we monitor and collect information on the needs of IDPs.
Work is also done in the area of educational and cultural development. Specialists and teachers of educational and cultural institutions of the Bakhmut City Council are involved in the work of the support centers, which organize mass entertainment, interactive, patriotic events and developmental classes.
The centers' specialists are constantly striving for positive changes and improving their work, expanding the circle of partners to achieve a common goal - to help the population in the conditions of evacuation.
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion, the Bakhmut City Military Administration and the Bakhmut City Council have signed 29 memorandums/agreements with other communities/districts of Donetsk and other regions on cooperation in servicing and supporting Bakhmut residents in safer regions of Ukraine.
Thanks to the support of international and non-governmental organizations and associations (107 in total, including 30 international ones), support centers have provided various humanitarian aid to IDPs since the beginning of the year, including
- 31456 sets of food products;
- 10894 items of non-food items (hygiene kits, household chemicals, clothing and footwear, sets of dishes, bed linen, blankets, pillows, mattresses, heaters, salt lamps, stationery, power banks, etc;)
- 21181 items of medical and other goods (kits, diapers for children and adults, medicines, diapers for adults, urological pads, crutches, walkers, wheelchairs, toys, etc.)
In addition to humanitarian aid, evacuees in Donetsk Oblast received a wide range of services at the support centers:
- 356 consultations on social issues, pensions and employment;
- 140 consultations on legal issues, provision of legal aid;
- 62 consultations on medical care, treatment, examination;
- 137 consultations on mental health;
- 328 educational, training and motivational events;
- 322 cultural and entertainment events;
- 98 sports events.
Support centers are more than just a humanitarian center. For the residents of Donetsk Oblast, it is a place of strength, a place where they are always welcome, and an example of effective cooperation between the authorities, public initiatives and international partners working together to support people affected by the war.
Information about the existing humanitarian centers/hubs in Donetsk Oblast located in safer regions of Ukraine is available here: https://dn.gov.ua/korisna-informaciya-dlya-vpo/pidtrimka-vnutrishno-peremishchenih-osib-z-doneckoyi-oblasti; geolocation by the link: www.google.com/maps/d/u/2/embed?mid=11wIkMDf8X5pZlexydaraemlSN2Zl-Mc&ehbc=2E312F&ll=49.037078611981265%2C29.274083499999968&z=6.