A photo of two senior refugees from the Ukraine conflict at a Project-HOPE supported community center. They are sweetly touching foreheads against the background of a garden wall and many plants.

Ukraine’s Seniors Learn to Live in the Unknown

Dear Friend,

Nearly 6 million Ukrainians have left their country since Russia’s invasion began in early 2022. Among them are untold numbers of seniors who were forced to leave everything behind — their children, grandchildren, and the homes they had lived in for decades.

Moldova, though a small country, hosts the most Ukrainian refugees per capita. It was there that, Galina, a Ukrainian grandmother and refugee, found herself looking for ways to cope with the trauma of displacement and separation from her family.

Galina, and other seniors like her, got connected to Project HOPE’s local partners at Casa Marioarei who provide mental health support. In group therapy classes, Galina can share her pain, her fears, and her hopes for a future back home in a safe space with other women and men her age in similar circumstances. You can hear more from her and other seniors on how they found connection and a support system away from home here.

	Galina holds the stitchwork stuffed animals she made at Casa Marioarei to send back to her daughter in Ukraine. “The first group therapy lessons were really hard, but now it’s easier,” she says.

	The center is also where Galina met her friend Viktor, another refugee and veteran. Viktor has only met six men his age here — but the friends he has made, he says, will be friends for life.

	Depression, anxiety and other mental health disorders are common among refugees. Project HOPE and the partners we support are helping close the significant gap in mental health care for thousands of people whose lives have been upended by war.

LEARN MORE

Everyone needs HOPE, especially when facing the trauma of war. Since Russia’s invasion in 2022, Project HOPE has reached more than 1 million people inside Ukraine and tens of thousands of refugees across the region.

We remain dedicated to helping the people of Ukraine heal and continue to support health workers, provide mental health and protection services, and restore access to essential primary health services including through the reconstruction of clinics.

P.S. If you'd like to provide HOPE to seniors and families displaced from Ukraine and others facing health disasters around the world, please click here to make a gift. You’ll have my gratitude for making a lifesaving difference.

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