Family Helpers at the Heart of the Children of Heroes Charity Fund

In the hardest moments, what brings a child back to learning, connection, and hope is clarity, steady support, and later, access to real opportunities.

As the anniversary of russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine approaches, we want to speak about the people who have been the backbone of our work since 2022. The ones who helped shape the Fund into a human-centred, effective organisation with a truly individual approach to every family’s story. Our Family Helpers.

When we were only starting out and looking for a systemic way to support children who had lost one or both parents to the war, the «Family Helpers» model already existed abroad. In Ukraine, however, this kind of practice had not been implemented.

Yet we could clearly see the gap. When support systems are overwhelmed and hundreds of social infrastructure sites are damaged or destroyed, a guardian and a child often end up alone with grief and shock after a loss. That’s where the crisis begins: What do we do now? Where do we turn? How do we access help?

These are the questions our specialists answer, with practical solutions. A Family Helper is someone who listens, stays close, coordinates support, and walks alongside the family from shock to recovery. When a child loses a parent because of war, help must be immediate, consistent, and deeply humane.

From very beginning, the Children of Heroes Charity Fund has worked to ensure that no child is left alone with trauma. That is why each Family Helper is assigned families for long-term, comprehensive support. The Helper knows the family’s story, understands their situation, and can direct assistance precisely where it’s needed. In turn, the family can reach out at any time, without fear of being left alone with their problem.

When Support Becomes a System

Milana’s family joined the Fund in November 2022. It was an unbearably difficult period: her father was killed at the front, their home was destroyed, the family was forced to flee abroad, and later returned to Ukraine feeling like there was no ground beneath their feet. What did support look like in practice?

At the earliest stages, their Family Helper, Daria, became a Crisis Manager for the family. First contact, risk assessment, an action plan, and addressing the most urgent needs. For Milana, it meant rapid crisis support and being connected to the right programs, with help provided «here and now,» while both Milana and her mother were in a severe psycho-emotional state.

When the acute phase passed, Daria shifted into the role of Support Manager. She helped the family rebuild routine, trust, and opportunities for growth. Milana’s family received medical services, humanitarian aid, learning equipment, and support around holidays and birthdays. Milana herself gained stable educational activities, group courses, and development programs.

Today Milana is sixteen. She studies, competes in academic Olympiads, volunteers, explores IT, and dreams of pursuing higher education in the United States. At this stage, Daria works as a case manager, supporting career guidance, a study plan, exam preparation, and targeted requests as they arise. For Milana, this also opened the door to educational travel: from visits to leading US universities to studying at a language school in London based at UCL. As Milana puts it, «the language barrier disappeared very quickly,» and the dream of studying abroad became a clear, concrete goal.

This is what our multi-layered model looks like: not one-time help «just in case,» but steady support that holds a child and their family throughout the journey, from the darkest point after loss to the moment a teenager can confidently plan their future.

A Team Working for the Future, Every Day

Today, the Children of Heroes Charity Fund supports nearly 15,500 children, with 15–17 new children joining the Fund every day. Behind this support is a team of 50 professionals who work directly with children and families.

The foundation of the model is our 40 family helpers, who stay in daily contact with families and provide ongoing, individual support. On average, each family helper accompanies more than 240 families.

Senior helpers and programme specialists also step in to support children alongside their core responsibilities, combining direct work with coordination, oversight, and program development to ensure long-term impact.

Our Goal Is Not an Easy One

In the twelfth year of the war, and the fourth year of the full-scale invasion, we feel more strongly than ever that we must speak about the future. The future of children growing up in extremely difficult conditions, who still need to know and truly believe that they are not alone.

We want to help children who have endured the heaviest loss regain faith in life. To give them the chance to grow in a caring and safe environment, with access to education, development, and psychological support. We want to ensure that children who have lost their Hero parents have the chance to build a dignified, happy, and fulfilling future.

We also want to thank our Family Helpers, who work every day to make the world brighter for these children, filled with care, support, and human connection. What fuels us is a heartfelt «thank you» from a guardian, a child’s smile, the news that Sofiika has started drawing again, and that Dmytro passed his exam and is preparing to apply to his dream university.

That is why we invite you to support the «Family Helpers» program. Every donation matters, because support should not be occasional. It should be constant, reliable, and there to lean on today, tomorrow, and always.