Free Accommodation for Kids with Cancer in Ukraine

Dear friends,

thank you for standing with Ukraine! Your contributions help give a home away from home to families with seriously ill children on treatment.

Lviv is a relatively safe city in Ukraine where cancer treatment is possible. Families who have escaped from occupied territories or combat zones often live in overcrowded apartments, houses, shelters, or even school gyms. For children affected by cancer with zero immunity, it is not acceptable. Besides, with frequent air raid alarms, anxiety increases if families are always apart: mothers and children in the hospital, and the other children with fathers in the shelters.

That’s why families with ill children need accommodation not far from the hospital to be together as much as possible. Like little Elina, you see in the picture. Her family left Kharkiv Oblast in April 2022 to stay in their distant relative’s house in the Lviv Oblast. They couldn’t remain in the region neighboring Russia under constant missile and artillery attacks. At that time, the family could not imagine that they would have to face their daughter’s disease in addition to the horrors of the war.

In June, Elina’s parents noticed that something was wrong. After a detailed examination, the doctors communicated a diagnosis – neuroblastoma with metastases. The condition of the little girl was critical. While the parents tried to hide their despair, Elina started receiving treatment after urgent hospitalization. Between therapies, the family needed a place to stay. It was dangerous for the girl to have long trips to go a remote town, to a house full of people. Your support helped provide the family with an apartment not far from the hospital.

In December, Elina had a high-dose chemotherapy with the following stem cell transplant. The procedure was successful. Before Christmas, the girl with her mom were released from a sterile suite in the hospital where they had spent almost a month. They were delighted to hug Elina’s father again, be together in their new home, and go for a nearby walk in the park. Thank you for making it possible!  

Dear friends,

thank you so much for supporting children with cancer in Ukraine in time of war.

These days, after the Russian missile assault all over the country, we feel like it’s February 24 again. However, we don’t give up and don’t stop responding to people’s needs. Your contributions make it possible.  

As of now, our Center Dacha is temporarily closed in Kyiv. The new Dacha construction was suspended at the beginning of the war when active hostilies took place around Ukraine's capital. In summer, the works resumed, and we hope and believe we will be able to open the house for children’s families the following year. Please, see the progress in the picture below.

Although the Dacha is closed, families who have children with cancer in Ukraine need a home away from home. Like Elina’s family who left Kharkiv Oblast in April to become IDPs, that is internally displaced persons. They couldn’t live any longer under the constant Russian shelling. When the girl came to the Lviv Oblast, she didn’t have symptoms. When Elina started feeling bad, they went to the hospital and underwent thorough examinations. The results were shocking: a malignant tumor that required immediate hospitalization in Lviv.

The family couldn’t remain in the village where they lived, and they didn’t have a place to stay in the city. With your help, now Elina’s family has accommodation not far from the hospital. Both parents are with their beloved daughter. They face this long treatment together and pray for Elina’s recovery.     

Thank you for being there for Ukrainian families now.