“Life was extremely difficult after leaving the orphanage. Without your support, I would have been lost. I have finally found my path in life thanks to God and My Home”. – Yevhenii Hryhoriev, orphan, orphanage graduate.
Children raised in residential institutions their entire lives find it very difficult to transition into independent adult life. Yevhenii arrived at our Center for Social Integration for Orphanage Graduates, struggling with this transition. Because he had speech problems, he shied away from talking and rarely communicated with others. He was bound by fears and unable to find a way to improve his interpersonal communications. Yevgeny would isolate himself and found it extremely challenging to adapt to daily life. The strict rules in the orphanage were clear and gave him boundaries. However, independent living without rules and a structure was overwhelming to him.
The Center for Social Integration was exactly what Yevhenii needed. In his first year staying at the Center, Yevhenii even refused to celebrate his birthday. By the following birthday, his situation changed noticeably. Yevhenii volunteered to buy sweets and invited his friends. His communication with relatives was still limited, but his brothers and sister would call him occasionally. And, he always tried to help others.
After graduating from the Center, Yevhenii’s communications skills had improved tremendously, and he found employment. When the full-scale invasion began, he was living in Kyiv and working in a new supermarket. After one month, he was promoted from loader to a consultant position. But after a Russian missile directly hit the supermarket, it was closed and employees lost their jobs. Yevhenii moved to Lviv and lived there for six months. Later, he evacuated to Poland and again found himself lonely and unable to confide in anyone for help. During this entire time, he communicated only with God.
Thanks to the Almighty’s provision, Yevhenii got a job in Poland and lives in a hostel for workers. To the fullest extent possible, he is now content and confident in his abilities. And, he now communicates successfully with his coworkers. Yevhenii celebrated his birthday at the end of September and treated his colleagues to a delicious cake. Most importantly, he attends church every Sunday and plans to be baptized into Jesus. The Christ-centered spiritual and physical training that Yevhenii received from the Center for Social Integration for Orphanage Graduates changed his life…forever!