From Youth Programs to Wartime Humanitarian Aid

From Youth Programs to Wartime Humanitarian Aid

The communities in Sumy oblast, located on the border with Russia, suffer from constant shelling and are still recovering from temporary occupation in 2022. That is why the civil society organization Okhtyrka Youth Center has reformatted its activities and, since the beginning of the invasion, has been engaged not only in the development of the region’s youth but also in volunteer work. Its project manager, Vladyslav Holiakov, shares how the organization has adapted to the challenges of war.

How did the story of Okhtyrka Youth Center start?

The initiative began back in 2014. At that time, the youth united with the aim of transforming the mundane gray town into a place with more development opportunities. The first action they conducted was creating a mural in Okhtyrka. Subsequently, other events were organized, bringing together volunteers and community activists, among whom leaders emerged. Most of these leaders were school students who continued their activities as they grew up. 

In 2018, when the first project grants started arriving in Sumy oblast, the organization officially became the youth center. 

Does “youth” mean you have age restrictions? Or is it more of a nominal title?

Currently, it’s more of a nominal title. When we first started, being a “youth organization” sounded cool, new, and progressive. Our activities often target young people, including educational programs, workshops, film screenings, and language courses. However, our events are open to people of all ages. 

Moreover, after the full-scale invasion began, we shifted to providing humanitarian aid and volunteer activities. We helped all those affected by the war, distributing food packages and essential items. 

Let’s talk in more detail about how your activities changed with the onset of the Russian invasion. 

Right at the beginning, it was like a switch was flipped—everyone instantly knew what to do. At that time, our team consisted of only four people, and I was closer to the border with Russia, in a village with my family. Even from there, I managed to coordinate the delivery of humanitarian aid from abroad. Another part of the team established a humanitarian headquarters in Okhtyrka, distributing and delivering aid.

Many locals joined the volunteer work. Everyone worked to ensure that people affected by the invasion or left without resources received food and basic necessities.

So, we didn’t have a transition period; we quickly shifted to volunteer work and clearly divided responsibilities. At the beginning, we also helped inform the population about shelling and shelters.

How long did you operate in this mode as a volunteer organization?

We still partially operate this way. But for the first 4–5 months of the invasion, we were 100% focused on humanitarian work. It was crucial to provide people with everything they needed, especially since part of the community was under occupation.

We even coordinated with the Serhiy Prytula Charity Foundation and other organizations. Due to our previous work, we had a certain reputation, so donors trusted us. We became a central hub for humanitarian aid in the region.

Until the end of 2022, we also traveled around the community to document housing damage caused by the fighting. We compiled lists of necessary repairs and handed them over to organizations that could carry them out.

Eventually, we were able to meet basic needs, the region was fully de-occupied, and more people, including children, returned home. We then resumed other activities, starting to organize sessions with children to provide psychological support and emotional relief. We arranged leisure activities and educational events for them. 

How has this volunteer experience influenced your activities as a youth organization?

We have become adept at identifying urgent needs and responding to them. For example, now fewer people require legal support, but psychological support is still in high demand.

People from the border areas, which are still heavily shelled, continue to arrive in Okhtyrka, often with almost nothing. We help them settle into their new places. There have been cases where we delivered mattresses to people who had been sleeping on inflatable mattresses for months after evacuation.

Overall, we have gained extensive experience, developing skills to work in various conditions and to respond to challenges.

How do you interact with the town authorities and other organizations?

Our organization has a partnership memorandum with the Okhtyrka Town Council and cooperates with communities in Shostka and Lebedyn in the Sumy region. 

In collaboration with the town authorities, we have worked on safety projects, such as creating a map of shelters and equipping some of them. Additionally, we jointly implement an educational project that teaches how to develop social initiatives and build businesses. We also conduct training sessions focused on finding and attracting resources to support these initiatives and business ventures. Continuing this work is essential as we aim to help the community with postwar recovery.

How has the structure of Okhtyrka Youth Center changed? You mentioned that at the start of the invasion there were only four of you. How have you managed to expand your activities so much?

We just don’t sleep! This is only partly a joke because, during the peak period, there was no such thing as “working hours”—we just had to help. But the team grew—first to ten people and then to 15. Along with our partners in other communities, there are now more than 25 of us.

We recently held a strategic session where we outlined many areas of work. We want to continue working with children, organizing educational events, and developing our production capabilities. We are recording podcast interviews and planning to launch a news digest.

We have done many other things. I remember we even went to Chernihiv to help create 3D-printed replicas of the musical instruments of Oleksandr Shlyonchyk, the master instrument maker and grandfather of the lead singer in the band Onuka. However, this year we are focusing most on nonformal education.

Were your strategic plans discussed during this session?

Yes, but we can only plan for one year ahead under the current conditions. We see ourselves as an organization that helps develop community activists. Some people don’t understand their role in society, waiting for the authorities to do something. But there is another path—uniting with like-minded people, finding resources, and implementing your ideas. Grants are not always necessary; we have examples of youth organizing cleanups using only their time and coordinating with local utilities for cleaning supplies and trash removal.

We want society to become more active and people to see their role in it. Supporting local businesses is also among our strategic priorities.

There is also a direction for postwar reconstruction, but much depends on how the war ends and the state we are in when we enter this reconstruction period.

While you meet various community needs, what needs do you have as an organization?

We constantly need various resources, especially now that we are implementing large-scale projects with significant budgets.

For example, even heating for us is a critical issue. We have many rooms where we work, but in winter we can’t heat them all. Unfortunately, the heating is electric, leading to high bills, and power outages are common. Last winter, we had to reduce our activities, gather in only a few rooms, and sit by the generator wearing heated gloves.

We also have a team member with a disability who needs a lift installed in the building and access to the shelter. Other people using wheelchairs would also benefit, allowing them to work in our coworking space.

How engaged is the community in the events Okhtyrka Youth Center organizes?

It’s becoming harder to engage people for various reasons. The safety factor is one. We can plan an event, but constant news of a possible Russian advance on Sumy oblast makes people stay home. We have to be flexible, postponing events.

Additionally, there are fewer young people because many have left the region.

Before the invasion, people had plans. They saw career-development events as beneficial, wanted to join volunteer activities, or simply attended events for fun. Now, priorities have shifted. Many are afraid to leave their homes for long. This is a significant challenge for us. However, at the same time, some have realized they want to become community activists, joining our educational projects to learn how.