Early Learning for Vulnerable Children in Ukraine

2025 was a year of intense and meaningful work for our team, supporting children and families whose stability, security, and peace have been taken by the war in Ukraine.

In this report, you can see photos of how joyfully kids from our centers celebrated Christmas - with exciting gifts, bright performances and entertainers - and learn more about our work.

Over the year, 116 children received care, development, and support at our two Early Development Centers in Odesa.
Here, every day began with simple but important things: a warm, home-like atmosphere, attentive adults, and three balanced meals. Through play, educational, and creative activities, children developed their thinking, emotional resilience, and social skills - learning to communicate, make friends, and believe in themselves.

Vulnerable families received food packages, hygiene supplies, as well as legal, psychological, and educational assistance. Parents participated in the Positive Parenting Program, where they learned to cope with stress, better understand their children, and provide stronger emotional support.

Special assistance for kids with trauma and developmental challenges

Children regularly attended remedial sessions with speech therapists, psychologists, special education teachers, and other specialists. For many families, this remains the only opportunity to receive quality care, as the war continues to intensify children’s emotional and cognitive difficulties.

Each child’s sessions were individually tailored, taking into account age, developmental pace, emotional condition, and family context. Many children came to us after experiencing evacuations, military attacks, separation from loved ones, and prolonged stress - anxious, withdrawn, and struggling with speech, attention, and sleep.

Remedial support gently restored their sense of safety and confidence. Art therapy, sensory integration, logorhythmics, physical therapy, and play-based exercises were used.

Life-changing results

Children began to speak more clearly, express themselves with confidence, and communicate more actively with peers and adults. Anxiety decreased; sleep, attention, and concentration improved. Most importantly, many children who had endured traumatic experiences gradually regained their adaptive skills. They began to play, laugh, and trust the world again.

Working not only with children but also with parents played a crucial role. Families received guidance and emotional support, which significantly accelerated positive changes.

For many internally displaced families, our centers became a true refuge: while parents addressed housing, employment, and documentation issues, their children were in caring hands - learning, healing, and rebuilding their sense of security.

Little Vlad’s story: “The voice that returned”

Vlad, age five, arrived at the center with severe anxiety and serious speech impairments. After nighttime evacuations, he had stopped speaking in sentences, communicated only through gestures, and could cry for hours.

Through the combined efforts of a speech therapist and psychologist, he gradually began repeating sounds, then words. A major breakthrough came when he asked for “water” - the first word his mother had heard from him in almost six months.

Two months later, Vlad was speaking in short sentences, felt calmer, began playing with other children and showed interest in the world around him. His mother shared that hearing him laugh again brought her indescribable joy.

We sincerely thank everyone who stood with us this year.

Your support creates another peaceful childhood, another family that is not left alone with their grief, another story where hope overcomes fear.

With deep gratitude,
The Way Home Foundation Team