East SOS & Ocean of Kindness: A Partnership for Comprehensive Support for Evacuees
For a year, East SOS and the NGO Center for Social Adaptation of People with Disabilities Ocean of Kindness implemented a joint project providing comprehensive support and protection to evacuees, with financial support from the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund (UHF).
Since 2022, East SOS has been building a partnership with NGO Ocean of Kindness – the only specialised facility in Dnipro for evacuated older people and people with disabilities. At the center, they receive temporary accommodation, care and rehabilitation while our Foundation’s team looks for further longer-term accommodation, helps restore documents and arrange social benefits, and provides psychological support.
From May 2025 to May 2026, as part of the joint project, the Ocean of Kindness Center received 1,021 people, all of whom had been evacuated by East SOS teams from frontline hromadas. 360 of them were people with disabilities.
“Among the people whom East SOS evacuation crews rescue from frontline areas are many who need ongoing support at the Ocean of Kindness Centre post-evacuation. One of them is 90-year-old Valentyna Viktorivna from Kramatorsk. After her husband died, she lived alone, but she was not left completely on her own: in her hometown, she was supported by friends. In return, Valentyna gratefully used her skilful hands to sew and knit toys and help them in any way she could. The full-scale invasion turned her familiar life upside down – there were no longer people nearby who could help her, and because of her disability, she needed daily care. After evacuation, she received support at the Ocean of Kindness Centre. Our team will then look for a place where Valentyna can receive appropriate long-term care. Her story is just one example of how important the center’s role is in the chain of support for people post-evacuation,” says Oleksandra Nahorna, Project Manager at East SOS.
Another area of cooperation was capacity building of the Ocean of Kindness team. Throughout the project, East SOS specialists provided mentoring on preparing narrative and financial reports, working with ActivityInfo, a specialised platform for collecting data on the implementation and evaluation of humanitarian projects, and communications support. The knowledge gained helped the team improve its internal processes, strengthen its reporting expertise and work more confidently in line with international donors’ requirements. This contributes to greater organisational resilience and creates more opportunities to attract partner support in the future.
As part of the partnership, East SOS also organised a first aid training session for the center’s team. Participants refreshed their knowledge of controlling critical bleeding and providing assistance in emergency situations – skills that are particularly important for professionals working with people who require additional support in a frontline region.
Another year of strong partnership has demonstrated that supporting people after evacuation and strengthening local organisations go hand in hand. Developing professional skills, improving internal processes and sharing experience help organisations respond more effectively to people’s needs. This is how a more resilient support system for people affected by the war is built.
These activities are carried out as part of the project “Integrated Comprehensive Support and Protection for Vulnerable Evacuees” implemented by East SOS together with the NGO Center for Social Adaptation of People with Disabilities Ocean of Kindness with financial support of Ukraine Humanitarian Fund (UHF).
Earlier, East SOS and Volunteer-68 Humanitarian Aid Center implemented a joint project providing comprehensive support and protection to evacuees.
