This is not the first time that the charitable organization ADRA Ukraine has supported the Society of Parents of Children with Disabilities and Their Friends “Zorya Nadiyi” (EN: Dawn of Hope), which established a training and rehabilitation center in the city of Kremenets, that located in Ternopil region. Despite the fact that the building has not yet been completed – work continues from 2021 – the center is already actively supporting people. From 2023 to 2025, ADRA Ukraine provided assistance to “Zorya Nadiyi” for a total of UAH 242,000 (these funds were collected through the official website of the charitable organization).

We talked with the head of the NGO ” Zorya Nadiyi” and the ideological founder of the center – Alla Andrushchuk.

— Alla, please tell us about the activities of the organization and the center.

— NGO “Dawn of Hope” has been working since 2015. Although the title mentions parents of children with disabilities, in fact, we support everyone – children, youth, adults with disabilities, as well as their families. Because often it is parents who need no less help than their children. Just imagine: if a mother takes care of a child who is 3 or 33 years old 24/7, this is a huge burden. And if we take the child to the center for 4-5 hours, then for parents it is already an opportunity to rest and recover.

We support not only local residents. With the beginning of the full-scale war, people with disabilities from nine regions came to us. In three years, about 13-15 thousand people passed through our center. We helped them with food, accommodation, clothing, psychological support. Some of them – about a hundred – were evacuated abroad.
Together with the Seventh-day Adventist Church, with the support of foreign partners and ADRA Ukraine, it was possible to raise almost 300,000 euros and complete the first floor of the new center. This is just the beginning. The center is already operating, and we plan to officially launch it in the near future. People with disabilities from among internally displaced persons receive assistance here. We provide home care, day care, humanitarian and psychological support.

Now we are preparing a center in which children and youth will undergo rehabilitation before lunch, and after that – adults, in particular veterans and victims of the war.

We are actively developing and have already become one of those organizations that the Ukrainian Goverment is interested to support.

— How many people have already received your help?

— In 2024-2025 alone, we provided various types of support to 290 people with disabilities. In general, more than 850 people received certificates, products, hygiene, and other resources. These were IDPs, elderly people and people with disabilities. Only in our community there are about 2,700 IDPs – some of them receive assistance. Every year, about 300 people with disabilities receive support from us – we help them as soon as the appropriate resource appears.

— How exactly does ADRA Ukraine help?

— For three years – 2023, 2024 and 2025 – we received funding from ADRA Ukraine, which was directed to the construction of the center and the provision of social assistance. It was a real support, thanks to which we could move forward. Small steps together do a great job.

— What are your plans for the future?

— In the near future, we want to scale up the assistance – to double or triple the number of beneficiaries. In June, we launch a new project “Zhyttyestiykist,” supported by the Ukrainian Fund for Social Protection of Persons with Disabilities (for now it will be in the old building). We plan to work daily with children with disabilities (day care for 30 people). In-kind assistance and psychological support will be received by 200 people from among IDPs and local residents with the first group of disability.

— What else do you need for the center to be fully operational?

— We have completed only one floor. Still need to complete two – the second and third. The second will be a full-fledged rehabilitation space. And the third floor is for those who come for long-term rehabilitation. This is extremely important.

We also plan to equip the kitchen, laundry, training workshops so that people with disabilities can master the skills of independent life – adapt, learn to cook, wash, work by their hands. This is especially important for people after injuries, amputations, children with cerebral palsy.

This project is pilot. Its uniqueness placed in the fact that the person will simultaneously be provided with educational services, rehabilitation and socialization – all in one space. In particular, these are early intervention (in the case of trauma from birth), kindergarten and junior classes.

We really need specialists – rehabilitologists, teachers. And, of course, funding. Because without people and without resources it is difficult to move. But we believe that everything will be fine. And thank you to everyone who supports us along the way.