“One of our own": how spaces supported by the MHP Next Door program become a support for military and veterans

According to the Ministry of Veterans, by the end of a full-scale war, the number of veterans, their families and the families of the fallen may increase to 4-5 million people. Today, the state and society face the challenge of adapting to civilian life for military personnel who are discharged from service as a result of injury, disability, family circumstances, or after returning from captivity.

Part of the state veterans' policy in Ukraine is to build a network of spaces where military personnel and their families can receive the necessary services and assistance. Communities, responsible businesses, charitable foundations, and public organizations are already actively involved in the creation of veterans' hubs . This includes, among others, the MHP-Hromada Charitable Foundation, which has been actively supporting the creation of veterans' spaces in Ukraine since the beginning of the full-scale war, UNN reports.

Details

Last year, the MHP Next Door program for the reintegration of military and veterans supported the creation of 16 spaces in Kyiv, Cherkasy, Vinnytsia and Khmelnytsky regions as part of the national social initiative competition Time to Act, Ukraine.

"This year, we supported five hubs of "Your own among your own" together with the NGO "Association of Volunteers" in Lviv region and the Ukrainian Veterans' Fund. We also supported 16 spaces within the framework of the Time to Act, Ukraine social initiative competition in different communities," commented MHP-Hromada.

The main thing in the work of the spaces is the services that veterans can receive, says Oleksandr Pakholyuk, director of the MHP-Hromada Charitable Foundation.

"Our Charitable Foundation MHP-Hromada supports spaces and promotes the development of veterans' communities in different communities across the country. After all, our defenders returning from the frontline need legal and psychological support. A comfortable environment for communication and exchange of experience helps them to adapt to civilian life faster.

By supporting veterans' spaces, we not only express our gratitude to the defenders for their service, but also invest in community development," he states.

Veterans' spaces are centers where military personnel, veterans and their families can receive all the basic services for effective reintegration into civilian life. The main requirements for their operation are free of charge, accessible, and based on the principle of "peer-to-peer".

Veterans' spaces offer a variety of assistance, including:

- consultations of specialists in various areas: legal issues, employment,

- rehabilitation

- psychological assistance

- participation in educational, cultural, entertainment, and sports events

- communication with fellow human beings and joint leisure activities

"In general, legal advice for veterans and their families is available in all places. These are mostly field consultations, but at least once a month.

There are also mutual support groups and psychologists in the communities," comments Olena Zhyvko, a veteran and head of the veterans' organization "Association of Volunteers.

Currently, the MHP Next Door program is focused on supporting rehabilitation centers, entrepreneurship among defenders and their families, and the development of veterans' spaces where they can get legal, psychological and social support, says Maria Mevsha, head of the Center for Interaction with the Military and Veterans at MHP.

"In the veteran community, our Center for Interaction with the Military and Veterans organizes lectures and consultations on legal issues, as well as psychological and social support. In Kyiv, Cherkasy, and Vinnytsia regions, we hold such events together with our partners Vesta Charitable Foundation, and in other regions, such services are provided by the Center's legal support expert and psychologists working at MHP's enterprises. Since our goal is to be as accessible as possible to those who need help, we will continue to strengthen our system of providing expert support and developing a network of veterans' spaces," she said.

Help

MHP Next Door is a program of individualized support and comprehensive assistance to military personnel, veterans and their families. The program supports military personnel, veterans and their families during their service and after returning from the war: humanitarian aid to military units; medical examination, treatment and rehabilitation; legal and psychological support; social reintegration; professional adaptation and inclusive sports activities.

In May 2023, the company launched the MHP Next Door program to support the military, veterans and their families. And in the fall of 2023, the Center for Interaction with the Military and Veterans was launched as part of this program, whose coordinators and experts communicate directly with defenders and their families and provide individual support and all necessary support.

MHP-Hromada is a Ukrainian charitable foundation that started its operations in 2015. Its main mission is the comprehensive development of communities. The geography of its activities includes 13 regions of Ukraine: more than 700 towns and villages. Since the beginning of Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Foundation has been systematically supporting people in the war zone, Ukrainian defenders and rescuers, communities, hospitals and maternity homes, charitable institutions that care for orphans and the elderly, as well as people who have lost their homes and livelihoods due to the war.