From the First Call to Adulthood: How Children of Heroes Charity Fund Works
May 19, 2026
From the First Call to Adulthood: How Children of Heroes Charity Fund Works
The Children of Heroes Charity Fund was founded in response to russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. We support children who have lost one or both parents because of the war and do everything we can to help carry the weight of that loss, standing beside them where their mother, father or both parents no longer can.
When the Fund first began its work, we planned to support 5,000 children. But the scale of the tragedy proved far greater. As of 1 March 2026, 16, 208 children are under the Fund’s care, and this number grows by another 10 to 20 children every day.
Where Support Begins
When a family reaches out to the Fund, they are matched with a Family Helper: a dedicated specialist who knows the child’s name, remembers their story and stays by their side from the very first call through to adulthood. In some cases, support begins in the first days of life: the youngest child under our care was just one day old.
The first thing a Family Helper does is understand what this particular family needs. If urgent help is required, they arrange emergency support. They then refer both the child and their guardian to a psychologist, with each receiving ten individual counselling sessions. Real stability for a child and their guardian is only possible when the whole family is supported, not just one part of it.
What Happens Next
Families whose monthly income is below UAH 13,000 receive humanitarian support, including food, hygiene products, clothing and essential items. As of 1 May 2026, there are more than 4,000 such families under the Fund’s care.
Children with disabilities and children from large families receive health insurance, helping ensure that access to treatment does not depend on the family’s financial situation.
All children are included in the Fund’s education programme. The war and the pandemic have caused significant learning loss, and the Fund helps children overcome it. Support ranges from early-years learning to university pathways, language courses, devices for online lessons and preparation for the National Multi-subject Test. We cover these needs through in-kind projects and by engaging partners. For example, we have already signed more than 20 memoranda of cooperation with educational institutions alone.
Milana’s story is one of the clearest examples of this journey. She joined the Fund in 2022 after losing her father and her home. Milana was deeply traumatised, with little motivation or strength to begin again. After working with a psychologist, she started studying mathematics and English. She won second place in a city-level academic competition, passed the Cambridge B2 exam, visited universities in the United States and attended a language school at UCL in London. Today, she is planning a career in IT, so she can use her knowledge to help rebuild Ukraine. You can watch more stories like Milana’s here.
One Battle After Another
Even after a family has been stabilised, the challenges do not disappear. Many children face bullying at school. Guardians can spend years trying to access payments after the loss of the family breadwinner. There are also cases of fraud targeting vulnerable families. Throughout this process, the Family Helper remains by the family’s side: finding specialists, selecting relevant programmes, helping with applications, listening and offering support.
Stanislava joined the Fund after her father went missing. Her family survived occupation, violence and the flood that followed the destruction of the dam. Their home was completely destroyed. The family were left with nowhere to stay, without documents, money or any understanding of what to do next.
The Family Helper stayed in constant contact with them, helped submit a request for emergency support, arranged psychological assistance and found temporary accommodation. Within a week, there was a sense of stability again. The child returned to her studies, while her guardian began restoring the family’s documents and applying for internally displaced person status.
Behind the Support
Behind every family stands a large Fund team that makes this support possible. Our fundraising and digital teams build a base of international partners to reduce the pressure on Ukrainian society. The legal and finance teams ensure the transparency of every transfer and help protect families from fraud. The security team has repeatedly repelled enemy attacks on the Fund. The brand and communications team tells donors about the real needs of children and engages international media to bring attention to their grief. The procurement team searches for the best prices for humanitarian aid and ensures that essential support reaches children on time.
All support provided by the Fund is needs-based and carefully assessed. Twice a year, we conduct a large-scale survey of families. Before and after each programme, we also carry out screenings to measure its effectiveness.
Since 2022, over the four years of the Fund’s work, we have provided USD 21,000,000 in support.
We invite you to help us keep helping children by subscribing to monthly support for the Fund’s work. Together, we can give a future to children who have lost the most precious people in their lives.