2 Years of Caring: Inside the Work of the “Bez Mezh” Transit Shelter in Kharkiv
Exactly 2 years ago, together with the Humanitarian Aid Center “Volunteer-68,” we launched a shelter for people with reduced mobility, specifically the elderly and people with disabilities. To outfit it, the team of the Charity Foundation “East SOS” procured necessary items — furniture, household appliances, and rehabilitation equipment with a total value exceeding 1,000,000 UAH — as part of its humanitarian projects.
The shelter is located on the ground floor, offering easy access with a separate entrance and a ramp, and no steps or thresholds. Rooms are outfitted with functional beds and comfortable furniture. Here, evacuees from frontline areas — often lonely people, including those without documents who cannot be accommodated in state-run facilities — find temporary refuge.
Over two years, the facility has become a place of care for 348 people with reduced mobility, all rescued from dangerous areas in Kharkiv, Donetsk, and Luhansk Oblasts. Typically, residents stay here for up to a month, until the team finds them a place for long-term accommodation. While at the shelter, evacuees receive around-the-clock care, hot meals, and, if needed, legal guidance and psychosocial support.
Our heartfelt gratitude goes out to the Humanitarian Aid Center “Volunteer-68” for their expert and compassionate care for the elderly and people with disabilities — for being a steady shoulder to lean on, for their openness and trust. Together, we are rekindling faith, restoring dignity, and rebuilding a sense of home for those who need it!
Ukraine is critically lacking in facilities to accommodate evacuated elderly people and people with disabilities. As a result, many from the frontline areas are often forced to wait for evacuation in a so-called “queue for life.”
Since the onset of the full-scale invasion, the CF “East SOS”, together with local partners, has set up four transit shelters to support evacuation needs in Kharkiv, Dnipro, and Zaporizhzhia.
These facilities offer free accommodation and provide evacuees with meals and essential care.
