Happy Monday! Our morning started off busy as we had a morning delivery of a truck full of humanitarian aid from Xylem! Their offices have been collecting supplies to help Ukrainians through the winter. We were delighted to be able to help get the supplies to where they are truly needed.

Happy St. Nicholas weekend! Harrison filled shoes with candy, Liubov ran games, gifts arrived from Czechia, USA, Scotland & Poland, carols rang out, Stas got his bunny (thanks Sean!), Eddie threw a pizza party (1/2)

Happy Friday! Eddie, Thierry, and Richard brought clothing to the Lviv Free Store! This clothing was brought all the way from the UK to ensure that people have the clothing they need during the winter.

Dear Ukrainian and foreign volunteers! Today, we want to say more than just "thank you." We want to say, with boundless, inexpressible, sincere gratitude - THANK YOU. Your hearts warm those who are cold from fear and loss. With endless gratitude, The Volunteer Action NGO team

Happy Thursday! We started off the day by cutting down 11 Christmas trees! Our residents came with us to our friend Ruslan's forest and picked out the trees they wanted for their rooms and for the common areas.

mickelmasuk said goodbye to us today and is returning home. Before he left, he gave us a gift that will enable us to ensure that people will be able to stay at the Phoenix regardless of their physical abilities. He completed our fundraiser for a disability lift for the 2nd floor!

The new hygiene room has been fully completed and stocked 😁 A massive thank you to Jesse, @mickelmasuk, @convoy4ukraineuk, and @SolidarityEngineering for making this possible! Their support helps displaced families maintain dignity and basic well-being during incredibly difficult times.

Sunday we had a lazy day :) Lina and the residents sorted humanitarian aid which will be sent to the free store in Lviv. Today, we went to піцерія Маргарита to thank them for the amazing turkeys and their kindness. It's thanks to acts like this that we keep going.

We are grateful to @radiosvoboda.org.web.brid.gy for visiting us last month to talk about "The Phoenix" and tell Jay's story. Jay is one of the founders of The Phoenix and his heart and soul resonates throughout the project. www.radiosvoboda.org/a/amerykansk...

Happy Monday/Tuesday from Ukraine! Sent cookies to the frontline w/ help from Thierry, Mickelmas & Jesse Fixed doors, stocked up on bananas/pears/mangos , patched up an injured stray dog, and held English club (Ukrainian is TOO hard ). More shelving done in hygiene room!

Happy Sunday! We had a quiet Sunday today 😀 Jesse worked on the hygiene/medical room. One shelving wall has been completed. We are working on catching up on "Stranger Things" before the season 5 premier next week! Tomorrow we will do a big grocery shop for the week.

Happy Saturday! We got our first snow of the winter! So of course.... SNOWBALL FIGHT! Afterwards, we took the children sledding and they built a snowman. Then... Hot chocolate! Later we had English lessons, coloring, and a lot of Minecraft!

Jesse and our residents have been working on our new storage room on the 4th floor 😀 Tomorrow we will be taking a trip to our favorite store Epicenter to pickup plywood! Thierry finished taking measurements for window coverings for the main stairwell.

Happy Friday! Our residents and volunteers were fixing doors and constructing shelves all day today! Get ready in the next few days to see our new storage room! Mickelmas was on cooking duty today and made a delicious vegetarian chili and bacon wrapped chicken for dinner 🤤

Happy Tuesday! Today we received Halloween goody bags from a kind donor :) Thierry completed his bird house! Jesse and micklemas helped tidy up the shelter 😀

Happy Monday! New family welcomed with hot goulash, bread & tea Jesse wrangled kids, Mikelmas fixed boilers (no more arctic/lava), heating install advancing, teens built birdhouses (cats excited ). Huge thanks to @xylem Watermark & farewell to Sasha. Passed our first van on – thx @BulldogAidUK

The free clothing shop officially opened today!!! Our residents cooked up a wonderful lunch and dinner for everyone. Jay and Alina had an amazing day with Xylem and meeting the companies that are helping Ukraine to rebuild. We were able to meet Olsten Partners in person and talk strategy 😀

Honoring Veterans Day — A Message from Volunteer Action 🇺🇸 Today, we honor the courage, sacrifice, and resilience of all veterans — those who have served with unwavering dedication to protect freedom and peace. At Volunteer Action, we believe that true healing extends beyond the battlefield.

Happy Monday! Jakub took today to do a full repair of the Mercedes as we were going to be helping our friends to unload a truck of humanitarian aid tomorrow❤️However,the truck has been delayed til Wednesday due to the border Mike was busy in the kitchen today which meant...Dance party in da kitchen!

Happy Sunday! Jakub worked on 4 vehicles today and will be starting the heavier lifts tomorrow ❤️ Our resident rat went to the vet today. Please keep him in your prayers as he will be having surgery tomorrow to remove a tumor.

Happy Saturday! After driving a few of the families into town, we decided to teach the kids how to build a campfire 🔥🔥 Then what do you do with a campfire? Make s'mores of course!

Happy Thursday! We were able to finalize group psychological support through art for our residents starting next week. A massive thank you to Myroslava for connecting us and ensuring that those in need can receive the support they deserve.

Happy Wednesday! First off, Happy Birthday to Michael! Michael joined the team this past June and has shown us his compassion, kindness, and warmth. We are delighted to have him on our team. Today we moved the new furniture that we received from seinladele into the bedrooms.

Happy Monday! The children had their first day of school today. Rita, Thierry, and Wendy saw them off. While it was sad seeing them walk into their school, it was a lot calmer in the Phoenix lol Thierry and Rita then worked on sorting clothing and arranging the free store.

Happy Halloween everyone! Lina and Wendy went with our moms to the local school and registered the children to attend in person classes. Most of our children have not sat in a classroom for years...

Happy Thursday everyone! Rita and Wendy knocked it out of the park! First we had a spooky costume parade, then the kids went door to door trick or treating, then we had mummy making races! However, our Halloween activities are not over yet! (1/3)

A massive thank you to Trostyants Community for providing our residents with warm clothing. When people are forced to leave their homes, they are very limited with what they can carry and have to make hard choices.

Happy Wednesday from the Phoenix! 🎃🎉 Halloween prep with Rita & Wendy, birthday celebration with friends-turned-family, and new solar panels from Paul who came all the way from Germany! ☀️ Every day here is full of energy, gratitude, and community spirit. 💛

Happy Saturday! We had a fantastic day. We developed a new community schedule for our residents so everyone can take on different responsibilities. Ludmila made an amazing vegetarian borscht that even the children ate.

Thank you Shannon at Lions of Lviv for the donation of new shirts!!!

TGIF!!! Happy Friday everyone, Wendy drove the kids to the hospital as we have a bug going around. Afterwards, her and Jay worked on a schedule for HALLOWEEN WEEK 🔥🔥🔥 Jamie and Thierry did amazing work on the free clothing store that we are going to have on the 4th floor.

Thanks to Jay, Jamie and Thierry these pallets and more will be going to hospitals v soon thanks to all the palletising and wrapping, not to mention the long drive and shopping for the wrap, forever in your debt 🙏🚛🏥

Happy Saturday! Residents enjoyed a trip to ancient Groth Pryyma grottos, organized by Wendy with KFC lunches. Thanks to Ukraine Humanitarian Aid for the van, Jakub for coats and games, and Celine & Levi for storage help and STEM supplies. Warm dinner by Thierry and Jesse.

Breakfast courtesy of Alona. It's very easy to overlook the stories of those staying with us. They come from frontline areas and each has their own story. If you recall the "human safari"s in Kherson, their family was a victim of this and the reason for them leaving their home

Our new radiators are installed all through the hallway! :) Tomorrow we start construction in the residents rooms Stay tuned for our updates! ;)

Lunch today was homemade borscht, lovingly cooked by two women from Pokrovsk. Sharing meals like this brings warmth, hope, and a taste of home to everyone at the Phoenix. 💛 Support our humanitarian work: givebutter.com/hopeandaction

Today we picked potatoes and went food shopping thanks to HopeXborders ! 🥔🛒 Your support helps us keep feeding displaced families and rebuilding hope. 💛 Support our humanitarian work: givebutter.com/hopeandaction

Thank you to our partner Xylem (USA) 💧 for providing a grant to upgrade the heating system at the Phoenix Shelter. Huge thanks to LiderComfort (Kyiv, Ukraine) for the massive discounts on radiators and pipes ❤️‍🔥 We chose KOER (Turkey) pipes — proven quality and endurance.

Today was an incredible day for us at the Phoenix! Solidarity Engineering has partnered with us to provide a brighter future for IDPs and veterans within Ukraine. Not only did they purchase hygiene supplies for us but we will be starting a STEM program at the shelter thanks to their support!

These are the angels who brought us our new van, kitchen, and so much aid! 💙💛 We are deeply grateful to the amazing team of Convoy4Ukraine, who arrived all the way from Ireland and the UK with volunteer vehicles full of humanitarian support.

A massive thank you to "Under God's Protection"(Фонд «Під захистом Бога» ) for providing essential food, diapers, and hygiene supplies. Your ongoing support is so crucial to ensure that we can provide ongoing services to those that need it. Thank you so much!!!!

A massive thank you to bulldog aid UK, Sean Renard, John Hill, and Chris Monks! Because of YOU, we will be able to provide transportation to our disabled residents and those in need! We always say that it takes a village to raise a child, well it takes the world to win the war.

We said goodbye to @eddie Tunstall and John hill from @bulldog aid UK this morning 😭 Come back soon!!!! Not only did they help to build a smoking area but they brought so much aid to ensure that those in need have clothing, bedding, curtains, food, and of course sweets!

Today we welcomed two new families to The Phoenix 💙💛 Thank you, Sergei, for driving them from the Lviv train station. We’re also so happy to welcome back our wonderful volunteers Mike Mangones and @wendy Prescott , welcome home!

For the last two days captain_sunflower and Michael have been getting the shelter ready for our new heating system thanks to Xylem It's only through the tireless efforts of our team that we are able to help those in need. Thank you for making this world a better place with your actions and deeds

We had a basketball tournament and a soccer game 🙂 then an ice cream party afterwards

A young refugee boy from the frontlines asked quietly for fried potatoes. Instead of just cooking for him, we handed him a peeler, put on music, and cooked together. Simple moments of connection matter. Thank you to everyone who supports us - you make these safe spaces possible. 🥔❤️

At the Phoenix, children can play, laugh, and feel safe again. Whether it’s building castles in the sandbox or sharing meals made with love. 💙💛 We want to keep creating these spaces, we need your support. Every donation helps us provide activities, food, and care for displaced families.