“I couldn’t do anything on my own” – Helping Older People Get Through the Winter

Olena, who lives in Kyiv, was in urgent need of support. During a power outage, she fell in her own flat, sustaining bruises and breaking fingers on her hand.

“They helped me with everything. I couldn’t do anything on my own because my arm was in a cast,” Olena says, describing the work of our social care assistants. A neighbour advised her to contact the Ukrainian Red Cross, after which she became a beneficiary of the Home-Based Care programme.

During power, heating and water supply outages in harsh winter conditions, older people who live alone face the greatest difficulties — especially those in high-rise apartment buildings in the capital.