Halka Family

From: Bakhmut, Donetsk region

Family members: Lidiia (86, mother) and Tetiana (63, daughter)

From Basement to Safety

When the war began, Tetiana Halka and her elderly mother Lidiia were living in Bakhmut. “A real nightmare began,” Tetiana recalls. “We stayed in a basement because we didn’t know where to evacuate to or how.” Military volunteers evacuated them to Kyiv region, where kind people helped them submit an application for housing. That’s how they found themselves in Miracle Village.

“We thank the organizers and administrators for selecting us from among many people,” Tetiana shares gratefully. Their home in Bakhmut was completely destroyed during the fierce battle for the city, leaving nothing for them to return to.

“My mother and I experienced such terrors, constant shelling and bombardment,” Tetiana explains. “Our health and well-being deteriorated. My mother moves around with great difficulty. Here, medical professionals and psychologists take care of us. Thanks to all of you, we have begun to feel like human beings again.”

Finding purpose in her new community, Tetiana volunteers with the “Cleanliness and Order” group and enjoys tending to their garden plot. After enduring basement living and witnessing the destruction of their city, mother and daughter have found not only safety but also dignity and appropriate care that have allowed them to begin healing from their trauma.