Today, March 7, the first HAB | Lviv Habilitation Center in Ukraine was opened in Lviv at 86B Stryiska Street.
The center will help veterans and civilians who suffered as a result of the war and have already undergone treatment and rehabilitation to adapt to new living conditions. About 300 people will be able to get help here in a year.
This is an initiative of the Alliance for Public Health in cooperation with the National Rehabilitation Center UNBROKEN. The center is a transitional, barrier-free space that allows veterans to safely survive the experience of war in order to move on. Veterans and civilians who have already undergone physical rehabilitation at the UNBROKEN center and need to adapt to new living conditions will learn new skills here.
“Over 17 thousand wounded have been treated in our First Medical Unit alone. These are women, children and our veterans. The UNBROKEN humanity ecosystem includes different stages, but when NGOs and private businesses get involved, it gives even more strength.
After undergoing treatment and receiving high-quality prostheses at UNBROKEN, people move here to gain experience of independent living – when they need to go for groceries, cook, and use transportation. We are currently building a large residential complex for 700 people, and this experience gained here is very important to do everything right,” says Andriy Sadovyi, Lviv Mayor.
With the help of coaches, psychologists, and physical therapists, wounded veterans and civilians spend three weeks learning to be independent in an inclusive space and beyond. This process is as similar as possible to what awaits veterans and wounded civilians at home. Residents (as the center’s residents are called) cook their own meals, go to the store, and use public transportation. Also, various lectures, master classes and trips to cultural events are constantly organized here.
The Lviv Habilitation Center is becoming an extremely important area of work for us, as it is intended to help veterans and civilians affected by the war. We also want to draw public attention to the problem of inclusive spaces. After all, it is the convenient infrastructure that will enable our veterans and civilians to continue living their lives,” said Andriy Klepikov, Executive Director of the Alliance for Public Health.
The first residents of the center are: Yana Kovaleva, a librarian from Avdiivka who lost her right leg as a result of the fighting. She underwent treatment and rehabilitation at the UNBROKEN Center and is now adapting to everyday life at the Lviv Habilitation Center. Another is Ilya Dmytryshyn, a soldier with the Air Assault Forces who was wounded while defending Ukraine. He was treated and rehabilitated at the UNBROKEN Center, and now focuses on adapting to the status of a veteran and a person with a disability, working on his psycho-emotional state and planning for the future at the Lviv Habilitation Center.
“The most important thing is that here you are motivated to go out and do something on your own, to go to the store, post office, to the transport – and not be afraid of it. The goal is to help with independence, that is, to acquire skills that will help solve your problems in life and everyday life. It also includes working with a psychologist, an art therapist, we had yoga, there is a gym, and rehabilitation specialists,” says resident Yana Kovaleva.
Oleh Bereziuk, the head of the psychosocial department of the NESLAMNI center, is convinced that such habilitation centers should be at every rehabilitation institution.
“At the NESLAMNI center, we treat acute trauma, conduct acute primary rehabilitation, but the next step, when a person has already been rehabilitated, is to acquire new skills. In the habilitation center, a person does more independent things, has more resources for cognition, takes his or her first steps on his or her own,” says Oleh Bereziuk.
The area of the habilitation center is 660 square meters. It has 9 rooms (6 inclusive) and 27 beds. It is planned that 300 residents will undergo habilitation here in a year.
“I am grateful to everyone who has contributed some of their energy and made it possible for us to be here today. And to make it possible for those for whom it is very important – for our best sons and daughters of our nation, who are now doing the hardest work in the most difficult areas,” added Volodymyr Rudkovsky, a soldier who lost his limb in the war and has already received a prosthesis at the NESLAMNI center.
According to forecasts, after the victory in the war, there will be more than 5 million representatives of the veteran community in Ukraine: veterans, their families and families of the fallen. According to the Ministry of Veterans Affairs, more than 850,000 war veterans are currently registered in Ukraine. In the active phase of hostilities, this huge number of people in need of assistance will only increase. That is why the opening of the first habilitation center in Ukraine aims to become a focal point for those who continue their life journey in a new context.
For reference.
The Alliance for Public Health has 23 years of experience in implementing access and sustainability programs for HIV/TB programs. Since the beginning of the war, a number of initiatives and programs have been launched: the Humanitarian Convoy, which has transported more than 1.2 million tons of cargo, launched the international program of emergency support and coordination HelpNow HUB for Ukrainians around the world, we have expanded the range of services of our 50 mobile outpatient clinics, purchased bicycles in regions where social workers could not otherwise reach patients, and expanded programs to provide direct humanitarian, social and psychological support. Currently, the Alliance for Public Health supports 10 shelters for refugees and internally displaced persons across Ukraine.
The National Rehabilitation Center “UNBROKEN” is a unique place where adults and children affected by the war receive comprehensive, qualified medical care. This includes reconstructive surgery, orthopedics and robotic prosthetics. Not only do the victims receive prostheses, but they are also manufactured here. In addition, the Center provides physical, psychological and psychosocial rehabilitation for injured military and civilians. Since the beginning of the full-scale war, more than 16,000 Ukrainians affected by the hostilities have received help at the Center.