as World Refugee Day draws near

[ [link removed] ]Mercy Corps

Dear friend,

Thank you for being
part of our global community. This email is part of our ongoing series of
updates to help keep you informed about Mercy Corps’ emergency response in
Ukraine and surrounding countries.

The war in Ukraine has now displaced more than 7.5 million people, and an
estimated 15.7 million people urgently require humanitarian assistance and
protection. The millions who have fled the violence are finding safety in
Ukraine and surrounding countries, as Mercy Corps teams and partners
continue to provide basic necessities, including food and shelter.

With World Refugee Day approaching on June 20, it is important to remember
those who have had to flee their homes because of conflict and disaster.
There are more than 100 million people who have been forcibly displaced
around the world, including the millions unable to stay in their homes in
Ukraine. Read on to hear the story of one family’s experience.

Escaping the bombing

Valeria, her mother, and her one-year-old daughter fled their home outside
of Kharkiv after the shelling of a nearby oil storage facility. They are
staying at one of the many shelters in western Ukraine supported by Mercy
Corps. The journey here was hard on her young daughter. Valeria tells us,
“During the day, she plays and smiles, but at night, she cries. She wanted
to sleep, but it was difficult to sleep on the bus.”

The shelter has provided them with safety as they plan their next steps.
She is grateful for the peace it has brought to her family and she says
that here her baby can finally sleep.

With Mercy Corps’ support, our partners have established shelters for
thousands of people escaping the violence of the war. Most shelters are
located in buildings used for other purposes before the war. The shelter
where Valeria is staying used to be a cultural center. It has been
operating since the beginning of the war and at one point housed up to 600
people.


[ [link removed] ][IMG]
Valeria and her daughter have found a safe space to stay at one of the
Mercy Corps-supported shelters that used to be a cultural center in
western Ukraine.


The security of the shelter has allowed Valeria and her family to plan
their next steps. They will move on as refugees to meet family in Warsaw,
Poland, and then eventually travel to Austria to stay with friends and
find work. But in her heart, Valeria says she hopes to return to Ukraine
after the war ends.

Reaching people trapped by the war

While Mercy Corps is providing support for families displaced by the war,
we’re also working to reach those who have been unable to leave their
homes.

Volunteers at one partner organization, which operates 25 warehouses in
Ukraine, work around the clock to process donations, including food,
medicine, hygiene products, and other essential items. They respond to
specific requests and their drivers take significant risks to deliver
exactly what people need to cities across eastern Ukraine in the midst of
the most intense conflict.


[ [link removed] ][IMG]
Moskalyuk Liliya pulls medicine from shelves to fulfill requests for
people trapped by the war in eastern Ukraine.



We are
so grateful for our teams and partners working to help deliver urgently
needed aid to people like those facing this tragic crisis and others in
40+ countries around the world. As we stay the course to help people heal
and reestablish their lives, one of the best ways you can continue to help
is by starting a monthly donation to Mercy Corps. We call our monthly
givers our Partners In Possibility because they help families build toward
brighter futures with new possibilities.

[ [link removed] ]Will you join us as a Partner In Possibility today?


[ [link removed] ]Give monthly [ [link removed] ]▸



These are difficult times, but your compassion and generosity — along with
the hard work of our teams and partners — can make a real difference for
people who need it.

We’ll be in touch again soon with more updates from Ukraine and from our
work around the world.

Sincerely,

The Mercy Corps team

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