The flowers Natalia had nurtured for years—her silent companions in the small house in Berestove—were left behind. Her garden, once a canvas of colors and hope, became a casualty of a war that cared nothing for beauty or memories.

A teacher by profession and passion, Natalia had built her life around nurturing young minds and tending to her home. But war has its own cruel logic. When the explosions began, reducing the entrance to her home to rubble, she realized survival would demand everything she had.

On April 7th, with her children beside her, Natalia embarked on a journey of uncertainty. Sixteen hours trapped in a sea of fleeing vehicles, each moment a testament to the human capacity to hope in the face of destruction. The Kharkiv bombardments had already begun, pushing families like hers into an exodus they never imagined.

Displaced first to Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, then working in Kharkiv, Natalia carried her resilience like a quiet flame. A shell blast in Kharkiv left her with a concussion—another scar of a war that seemed determined to erase everything familiar.

The Hansen Ukrainian Mission became more than just a housing project. It was a lifeline. On January 23, 2025, she moved into apartment 12.3A in Senior Chudo Village—a place that promised more than just shelter. Thanks to the kindness of friends and the mission’s compassion, she found a path forward.

“I wish for people to become more courteous,” she would say, her voice carrying the wisdom of someone who has seen both the cruelty and kindness of humanity. “Understanding and helping others—that’s what truly supports us.”

To Dell Loy Hansen, her gratitude was profound. The growing villages across Kyiv Oblast were more than buildings—they were beacons of hope, testaments to human compassion in the darkest of times.

Her first year was a landscape of uncertainty. Each day a struggle to find harmony, to put down new roots where old ones had been violently torn away. But slowly, deliberately, Natalia began to rebuild—not just her life, but her spirit.

In Senior Chudo Village, among the flowers she hoped to plant, Natalia found more than a home. She found a possibility of peace.