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Specialized Care Opens New Possibilities for Ukrainians With Disabilities
Ukrainian-Israeli nonprofit FRIDA, with support from Direct Relief, is bringing specialty care through volunteer physicians to vulnerable patients in Ukraine.
Visiting pediatric neurologist Oksana Demidova examines a 19-year-old patient who was evacuated to Smila from eastern Ukraine in March 2022. Demidova is a private-practice pediatric neurologist who volunteers with the NGO Frida, which has received support from Direct Relief to expand health services. (Nick Allen/Direct Relief)
Behind a long garden wall in Znamianka, central Ukraine, 150 children and adults between the ages of four and 35 with developmental or physical disabilities live in a close-knit residential community.
Since November 2025, they and around 300 residents of three other facilities have received specialist physical and psychological care and rehabilitation through “Little Hearts,” a mobile outreach program implemented by the Ukrainian-Israeli nonprofit FRIDA with support from Direct Relief.
A psychologist conducts a group session at the Znamianka orphanage. (Nick Allen/Direct Relief)
The program brings specialists directly to the facilities, including dentists, endocrinologists, gynecologists, neurologists, and ultrasound technicians. Psychologists and rehabilitation specialists provide additional assessments and individualized support intended to expand residents’ physical, emotional and social development.
This on-site care has helped the Znamianka home address residents’ health needs while also strengthening their confidence to engage with the world outside the facility, said director Nataliia Olefirova.
“The work of the psychologists helped the young people to overcome emotional difficulties, stabilize their psychological and emotional state, and develop a sense of security and trust,” she said.
Staff members reinforce that progress through frequent excursions and visits to shops and local attractions.
“People on the town’s streets increasingly show genuine support, respect and care for children with disabilities,” according to Olefirova, who has worked at the home for more than 20 years. “On playgrounds and in parks, today’s children hardly notice differences that were once considered barriers.”
Bringing Specialized Care On-Site
Znamianka home director Nataliia Olefirova speaks with a resident during morning recreation. (Nick Allen/Direct Relief)
The one-year volunteer-based program depends on Ukrainian medical professionals who volunteer despite already heavy workloads during the war.
Teams of approximately 25 specialists make two visits to each facility. Most of the volunteers work at clinics in Kyiv.
Rehabilitation specialists also make two visits during the year, each lasting two weeks. They work individually with children and adults, asses their needs and provide staff members with practical recommendations for continuing care.
Psychologists conduct similar two-week visits, assessing and assist each person.
The program helps ensure that health problems are identified and properly managed through a network of hospital resources. The homes also receive humanitarian support, including medicines, hygiene products, sanitary supplies, and other essential items.
As remarkable as the scope of the clinics is the organizers’ ability to find specialists willing to repeatedly volunteer on weekends.
“Overall, volunteer engagement has become more challenging across Ukraine as the war continues,” said FRIDA program manager Alina Zadyrak. “Many healthcare professionals are experiencing prolonged workloads, emotional fatigue, and increased responsibilities in their primary workplaces.”
Since 2022, however, FRIDA has built an extensive network of medical volunteers.
“In most cases, a full mission team can be assembled within a single day, and we often have more volunteers willing to participate than available places,” said Zadyrak.
Among those volunteers is Oksana Demidova, a private-practice pediatric neurologist who treats children with disorders affecting the mind or the nervous system.
With more than 20 years of experience, the Kyiv-based doctor has volunteered with FRIDA through the war years. Confronted with feelings of powerlessness at the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion and aware of the acute shortage of specialists in her field, she opted to dedicate her free days to the outreach missions if needed.
“I decided to help as many children as possible, the children who need help most of all: those without parents,” said Demidova. “The people who work with these children in children’s homes, the staff, are wonderful, they give their all, but they are unable to do what they don’t know how to do. Changing treatment, selecting medication, understanding specific issues– this can only be done by a neurologist,” she said.
How Compassion Wins in Wartime
Visiting rehabilitation specialists work with a young patient to alleviate muscular atrophy. (Nick Allen/Direct Relief)
“What was particularly valuable was that the mission’s representatives have treated our children not merely as patients, but first and foremost as individuals,” said Ivan Ponomarenko, director of the orphanage in Smila, another of the supported institutions, located 90 kilometers northwest of Znamianka.
A former municipal administrator, Ponomarenko became director of the Smila facility in December 2022, 10 months into the war. Although Smila is around 250 kilometers from the front line it, like Znamianka, has suffered drone and missile attacks and other effects of more than four years of war.
“The war certainly affected all areas of life in our institution,” said Ponomarenko, citing reduced financial support, rising operational costs and, above all, the emotional state of the residents.
“Many of them do not fully understand the reasons for the events, but they very acutely feel the anxiety of adults, air raid sirens, and changes in their usual daily routine. For people with intellectual disabilities, any sudden changes can be a source of significant stress.”
Since the start of the war, 25 children and young adults have been evacuated to the institution from other facilities in unsafe areas of Ukraine. They also experienced severe psychological stress due to military operations, the long journey, and change of environment.
“Most of them arrived with serious health problems and, like all of our residents, require constant external care, medical support and correctional and developmental support,” said the director, recalling how the staff and residents embraced the newcomers. “Today they are full members of our big family.”
External care through the outreach program has been hugely important, not only for the improvement in the residents’ health, he stressed.
“This collaboration also served as an example of international support for us and showed our children that, even during these difficult times for Ukraine, there are people from around the world who are ready to help, support and stand by us,” said Ponomarenko.
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