Home of Hope - Ukraine
About the Home of Hope - Lviv, Ukraine
The Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate, through their Home of Hope ministry,open their doors to girls who have no place to go. Often the girls come from abusive and dysfunctional lives that leave them feeling worthless, lonely, and certainly not loved.
It can take years living at the Home before they are ready to trust and openly share with others. Life at the Home has daily challenges, but the one constant that remains is love.
The hope is that one day they will know that they are loved and feel the dignity that they deserve.
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Update: April 2024
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As the war persists, its presence has become entirely woven into the fabric of Home of Hope’s daily life. Where there’s a siren, there’s a prayer; where there’s shelling, there’s Hope. Updates from the Home detailing the achievements of our girls are juxtaposed with reports from the occupied territories. Images of newborns belonging to our former residents mix with invitations to the funerals of friends from the frontline. This is how life goes on now.The life of Home of Hope goes on, too. Our doors stay open, made possible through your unwavering support. We express our gratitude to you, and to God for opening your hearts to us as we continue our mission. Love, hope, and faith can save the world.
I’m not sure how much you know about our mission in Lviv, except that it is a place for girls in difficult life circumstances and at a vulnerable age. Today, I want to share with you what these words truly mean.
Among our girls are those who have been self-reliant since the tender age of 12 – those who became orphans despite having living parents. It is scary to even think about it, but “status orphans” (children who have lost their parents) have at least financial support from the state. Orphans with living parents have nothing but extreme amounts of pain and the hope of being loved one day.
Some of the girls have loving parents, but had to flee from the war, or financial difficulties do not allow them to settle in a new city where they come from little villages to study. They are looking for a supportive community in order to enter adulthood in a warm environment, learn to interact, find lifelong friendships, and open their hearts to God.
Each girl has her own motivations. Yet our singular aim remains consistent: cultivating a sanctuary of safety, familial warmth, and domestic tranquillity. We want to be their Home, not an institution, and we do everything we can to provide that loving place.
We recognize that our girls are still children yearning for the tender embrace of maternal love – longing for the luxury of sleeping in, relishing freshly prepared meals, and feeling shielded from harm. The luxury of living a normal life, having clothes and food, going out to the theatres, hiking, exploring, having tutors and classes for their talents’ development. These are luxuries they have been denied, their childhoods stolen away.
Yet, we stand by them, offering silent solace and attentive ears. At first, they romanticize and idealize their past lives. Then, they jest about their transient homelessness. But eventually, as trust blossoms and fear subsides, they begin to share their stories with candour and vulnerability…
Update: March 2023
One year ago, Russia launched its brutal invasion of Ukraine. The war has affected everyone in Ukraine. The Home of Hope, the Sisters Servants of Mary Immaculate’s ministry for vulnerable young women in Lviv, is no exception.
As we shared with you last year, the Home of Hope responded immediately to the attacks by providing a different kind of refuge: opening its doors to dozens of distraught mothers, children and elderly women with disabilities escaping to safety from across Ukraine.
“It is impossible to prepare for this,” says Sister Eronima Vovchak, SSMI, the Home’s director. “It’s the 21st century and bombs are flying to your city, killing innocent people, destroying homes…”
“War destroys not only houses, bridges and roads, it also destroys hope, peace, confidence and a sense of security. But I’m proud of us at the Home of Hope and of all Ukrainians, that we quickly recovered, mobilized and started implementing plans.”
While some girls living at the Home left to relatives in villages or abroad during this time, others stayed to help in whatever way they could, preparing food, taking great care of the children – anything to help create a friendly and safe atmosphere amid the trauma.
You helped make this possible, through your support.
“People came around the clock, scared, hungry and distraught. We served them as best we could, providing and arranging shelter, food, hygiene items, medicines and ‘anxiety suitcases’. We were tired and confused, but this time also made our community even more courageous, loving and enduring.”
The women of the Home of Hope also found themselves facing unexpected cultural challenges: Many people had fled from parts of the country under heavy Russian influence and its consistent policy of de-Ukrainianization.
“They came with ‘warped’ ideas about Ukrainian identity. Since our house became their first experience of Ukrainian national, mental, linguistic and socio-cultural contexts, our task was to make that experience as positive as possible. It is also important for us to declare our faith in God, Christian values, and active love for our neighbour and Motherland.”
Thanks to benefactors like you, the Home organized visits to historical and religious places of significance, prayers and services for Ukraine, art therapy and psychological supports..jpg)
The Home also continued their support of the military, preparing goods for bake sales and markets to help provide funds needed on the frontlines. Several refugees also asked Sister Eronima for catechetical ministry; she prepared them to receive the sacraments of Confession and Holy Eucharist.
Since the fall, the Home of Hope has returned to its primary ministry: providing a safe and loving home to girls who have no place to go.
But that doesn’t mean life at the Home is “normal” for the 20 young women living there full-time.
“We try to follow our previous routine as much as possible, but of course we have to adapt and accept the situation as it is. We live in a state of war, and therefore in constant danger and uncertainty.”
In a typical year, it would cost about $25,000 CAD to operate the Home of Hope. This is not a typical year.
“When the power is off, we have no light, heat and warm water. We may spend half a day in the basement for shelter. But thank God our winter is warm this year. There are, of course, certain inconveniences, but the whole of Ukraine suffers from them…”
The Sisters were able to secure a grant for a generator that they have connected to the boilers so the heating system doesn’t freeze. They have also begun replacing the entire heating system with an energy-efficient solution.
Utility and food costs have sky-rocketed. As an example, Sister Eronima tells us that kasha used to cost 30 hryvnias, but is now 100 hryvnias. To help ensure there is enough food, her own family has donated significant amounts from their farm – vegetables, flour, sugar, buckwheat, rice, meat, dairy products and honey.
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It’s also important to ensure there is a bit of money set aside for “extras.” These extras are for things many of us would take for granted, like purchasing birthday gifts for the girls, or taking them on an outing, or making sure St. Nicholas visits. Things that help create a sense of normalcy – under circumstances that are anything but – for girls who already have so little, especially during a time of war.
At this time of year, the Ukrainian Catholic Women’s League, in collaboration with Lubov SSMI Foundation, would be inviting you to join us for our annual breakfast event to raise necessary operating dollars for Home of Hope. We heard that many in our communities were not yet ready to gather together in person. It’s not a typical year here in Canada either.
But Sister Eronima and the girls still need your help. You can ensure there is a place of safety, love, hope and the chance of a better life with your generous gift today.
Please consider making a monthly gift or a one-time gift. Charitable tax receipts will be issued for all gifts of $25 or more.
Every gift makes a difference. Thank you for caring.
Update: 2022
On February 24th, life in Ukraine changed, and in fact, the entire world was in shock as the images of the Russian invasion filled our computers, phones, and televisions. There was a sense of numbness as the world realized that this horrific war targeted on Ukraine and its civilians was real. Thank goodness that the numbness and the daily images of horror have evoked action from all corners of the world.
Prior to this conflict, the Home of Hope community of girls lived each day to the fullest, dealing with their life situations. The Sisters continued to provide them with the necessities of life, including education and the development of essential life skills. One area that the Sisters are committed to is instilling the community with a sense of gratitude, solidarity and understanding that there are many different needs and sufferings besides their own. To help form this virtue of gratitude, twice or even three times a year, the Home of Hope prepared care packages of baking and thank you letters for the Ukrainian military on the front line. This act of gratitude, serving others from the front line, is now a daily occurrence in the Home of Hope.
Today, life at the Home of Hope is different, some of the girls have left to relatives in villages, others have left the community to seek refuge outside the country, while others have chosen to stay at the Home to help in any way possible. The Sisters have opened the Home and Hope doors to help refugees. The community is welcoming those who need a place of refuge to be fed, comforted, and supported. Those coming through the Home are primarily mothers and children that have escaped from Eastern Ukraine.
Sister Eronima the Director at the Home recently shared, “We continue to work in conditions of war, often without rest, in constant stress, fleeing to shelter when the air alarm sounds, taking with us those refugees, especially the children, who have already survived the horrors of shelling and are terribly frightened. We try our best to distract and entertain them. During the day, we try and do more to help in any way possible.”
The Lubov SSMI Foundation continues to transfer funds from donations to the Home of Hope but it is now being used to support the war efforts that the Sisters are involved in.
Spring 2020 Community Update
Please find a community newsletter below. Click on the photos to view larger
