Aid4Heroes is a large-scale project of the NGO “National Council of Healthcare and Safety Ukraine”, designed to provide comprehensive support for veterans and their families, as well as to strengthen the capacity of local communities for effective veteran integration.
For seven months, the Aid4Heroes team will travel to the districts of Odesa region and conduct trainings and workshops for both veterans themselves and specialists from various fields — including staff of administrative service centers, social workers, and representatives of local authorities.
The first location where Aid4Heroes started its work in the region was Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi.
In one of the city’s educational institutions, representatives of the NGO “Vilni Voiny” (Free Warriors), themselves veterans of the Russian-Ukrainian war, held an adaptive sports training for local veterans in a peer-to-peer format. Through their own example, they demonstrated why adaptive sports can be an effective tool for physical and mental recovery. Veterans also had the chance to try four different sports — volleyball, basketball, pickleball, and archery.
In addition, trainings were held for all those who regularly work with veterans in the course of their duties. For them, the Aid4Heroes team prepared sessions covering several key topics:
🔹effective and respectful communication with veterans;
🔹providing initial psychological support;
🔹routing veterans’ appeals, working with documentation;
🔹prevention of professional burnout.
These skills will help specialists engage with veterans more confidently and effectively, using modern approaches and practical tools.
By February 2026, similar Aid4Heroes activities will take place in Berezivskyi, Bolhradskyi, Izmailskyi, Odeskyi, Podilskyi, and Rozdilnianskyi districts, and the city of Odesa.
The event is implemented with the support of Nonviolent Peaceforce International in Ukraine under the Aid4Heroes project
Published: August 21, 2025