Caring for the Whole Person
One of our Core Values is caring for our youth holistically. This isn’t just an ideal; it’s lived out in our work with orphan students every day.
At eleven years old, both Valera’s parents were deceased. He and his siblings were moved from one relative to another, then into orphanages, then into an adoptive home in a village. Valera began studying at a trade school in Zhytomyr, where we met him. He’d been having seizures since he was seventeen, so he needed very practical and urgent help. Staff member Sasha T. began meeting his needs:
Documents: Valera had lost his passport, the standard form of ID for Ukrainians. Sasha went with Valera to the required government offices, helping him make payments, collect documents, and write applications.
Basic needs: After trade school, Valera had trouble finding a job because of his seizures. During this time we helped him with groceries, hygiene kits, medications, clothes, and shoes.
Health care: Because of Valera’s epileptic seizures, we often accompanied him to different doctors and helped him order the medication he needs.
Housing: In 2020, Last Bell helped Valera receive disability status, then to apply for social benefits for which he’d become eligible. Right now, he lives in a social dorm, but we helped him register on a wait list for a better housing situation.
Education: We helped Valera apply to a technical school (which feeds an architecture university in Kyiv), studying forestry. He began classes on a scholarship. In November, when classes went online, Valera couldn’t attend or do his work because he didn’t have a mobile phone. He was almost expelled. But we helped him acquire a phone, and he’s been working hard to catch up.
Financial skills: Valera had fallen prey to a private loan office that charged extraordinary interest rates. We helped cover his debts, and at his request taught him how to manage his money.
In everything, Sasha T. and our other staff share the good news about Jesus.
Valera’s life is just getting started, and with the help of our staff, he has a strong foundation. Our holistic approach is vital for his well-being now and in the future!
Valera (back) and fellow orphan student Sasha (front) buying shoes with the help of staff member Sasha T.