“We did not even think that we would have a separate flat”: a mother of many children from Mariupol received housing in Dnipro, which the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation furnished

They spent 17 long and terrible days in the basement in Mariupol. Yevheniia, her three daughters, and her mother tried to survive, eating only frozen dough roasted on an open fire. They left their home, but were not left without help – the other day, the family received the keys to a new home in Dnipro, which the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation helped to furnish.

“We did not even think at all. We did not even know that there would be a separate flat here!” Yevheniia says.

Oleksiy Sukhanov, a famous actor and TV presenter, and an ambassador of the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation’s Museum of Civilian Voices, shared the story of Yevheniia and her family.

“Aircraft began to fly both day and night. You cook food outdoors, near the entrance, near the basement, and here it is flying. To quit cooking, leaving the children with nothing? And you don’t know what to do. And at night you lie and think, “God, I wish I could live until the morning.” Many people did not survive to see the next morning, because houses collapsed and folded in,” Yevheniia told Oleksiy.

When Yevheniia’s husband was killed by shelling, the woman and her family decided to leave Mariupol by all means. For her 77-year-old mother, Vira, that journey became the scariest in her life. However, both mother and daughter are ready to go through a difficult path again in order to return to the Ukrainian Mariupol. In the meantime, their home will be in Dnipro.

The Rinat Akhmetov Foundation became a partner of a pilot project on temporary social housing for Mariupol residents – #IAmMariupolHousing. In Dnipro, the Foundation undertook to set up and furnish areas of common use, from toys in the children’s room to furniture and appliances in the hall, co-working space, and kitchen.

During the year, about 4,000 Mariupol residents from the most vulnerable social categories will be able to get such housing in various cities of the country. To submit an application, contact the Mariupol City Administration or IAmMariupol centres.