IU Impact: Case Studies
Humanitarian Hub: School in Nikopol
Impact:
Human Capital Resilience: Teachers are able to conduct lessons more comfortably, they are able to provide local and frontline support in better conditions.
Economic Resilience: The school has saved an estimated $10,000 on heating, which it can use on alternative resources.
Structural Resilience: IU windows have prevented the structural degradation of the school through damp and mold, ensuring the future return of students.
Social Resilience: The school is able to continue as a community hub due to IU windows preventing further damage to the building.
Report from the ground:
Last year, the only school in Kamyaniy, near the city of Nikopol, suffered from artillery shelling. More than half of the windows in the school were broken. Just before the war, the classrooms and halls of the school were renovated, but they suffered damage and became littered with debris. One of the biggest problems for the school was the moisture that covered the furniture and walls of the classrooms. Despite the invasion, people continue to work at the school, the teachers conduct online lessons, and when they have free time from work, they prepare food and send parcels to the frontline for the military - the school works as a humanitarian headquarter, where people can get water and food they need for life. Of course, it was very difficult for the teachers and all the volunteers who worked at the school in the winter when their windows were closed only with OSB, constantly letting in moisture and cold. When the school director asked Insulate Ukraine for help in insulating the school with their windows, he did not expect that it would give such a good result. Currently, he claims that thanks to the insulation of the windows, they can save up to $10,000 on heating. The walls have stopped leaking, moisture no longer enters the classrooms, thanks to which the school can remain in good condition until the moment when the children can return to school.
Public building: Nikopol School #23
Impact:
Human Capital Resilience: Light given by IU windows means more effective education is delivered.
Economic Resilience: IU windows improved working conditions for teachers, aiding employment stability.
Structural Resilience: IU windows have given light and warmth to the school, ensuring the future return of students.
Social Resilience: The mental health benefits of a warm and bright school give ‘joy’ to those who work there.
Report from the ground:
Коли ми прийшли в 23-ю школу це не був наш 1-й навчальний заклад в якому ми ізолювали вікна після прильоту, але ми дійсно можемо сказати що це був найбільш емоційний об’єкт. Перший приліт який стався у нашому місті був саме у цю школу. Зайшовши в 1 із класів ми побачили що на дошці написано 23 лютого 2022р. за день до початку війни, і після цього наче все зупинилась.
За півтора роки без вікон в школі зʼявилось дуже багато плісняви, у тільки відремонтованих перед війною, класах повіподали шпалери. Вчителі були у дуже подавленому емоційному стані бо їм доводилось проводити онлайн уроки у кабінетах де вікна були забиті дошками, було дуже темно і холодно. Директор дуже сильно переживала що діти не зможуть повернутися до навчання в цей заклад після війни.
Але після ізоляції вікон по-перше стало набагато тепліше, і світліше. Як сказала також одна із вчителів, - тепер я з радістю іду на роботу бо я можу побачити світло, замість темряви. Ми давно не зустрічали таких вдячних людей.
When we came to the school #23, it was not our 1st educational institution in which we insulated the windows after the shelling, but we can really say that it was the most emotional project. The first shelling that happened in our city was precisely at this school. When we entered one of the classrooms, we saw that February 23, 2022 was written on the blackboard - a day before the start of the war, and after that everything seemed to stop.
During the one and a half years without windows, a lot of mold appeared in the school, in the classrooms that had just been renovated before the war, the wallpaper fell. The teachers were in a very depressed emotional state because they had to conduct online lessons in classrooms where the windows were boarded up, it was very dark and cold. The director was very worried that the children would not be able to return to study at this institution after the war.
But after insulating the windows it became much warmer and brighter. One of the teachers also said, ‘now I go to work with joy because I can see light instead of darkness’. We have not met such grateful people for a long time.
Words from the Headteacher:
Private Home: Kyrylo, Mykyta, Kateryna and their mother Anna
Impact:
Structural Resilience: IU windows have given warmth to Anna’s house, meaning the family no longer need to wear jackets inside.
Social Resilience: Anna feels the IU window has improved the life of her family, receiving IU windows made her feel that there are people who care about her children.
Report from the ground:
Це одна із тих історій яка торкає тебе до глибини душі. Коли ми прийшли ізолювати розбиті вікна у будинку Анни, яка проживає там з трьома своїми дітьми Кирилом, Микитою та Катериною, ми побачили що в руках Анна тримає пляшку з кип’яченою гарячою водою, Анна сказала що це єдиний спосіб для неї зігріти своїх дітей. Вже цілий рік пройшов після того як ми утеплили їм вікна Анна каже що вони відчувають велику різницю, більше дітям не доводиться ходити вдома в куртках і шапках. Анна каже так наші діти проходять те через що не повинні проходити нічиї діти але вона дуже вдячна що є такі люди які піклуються про них і намагаються поліпшити їм життя.
This is one of those stories that touches you to the core. When we came to insulate the broken windows in the house of Anna, who lives with her three children Kyrylo, Mykyta and Kateryna, we saw that Anna was holding a bottle of boiled hot water in her hands. Anna said that this was the only way for her to warm her children. A whole year has passed since we insulated their windows. Anna says that they feel a big difference, the children no longer have to walk around the house in jackets and hats. Anna says that our children go through what no one's children should go through, but she is very grateful that there are people who care about them and try to improve their lives.
IU Employee: Volodymyr
Impact:
Human Capital Resilience: Volodymyr is able to continue working and developing skills in an industry relevant to his previous career as a construction worker.
Economic Resilience: Volodymyr’s employment means he is able to provide for his family and continue providing support to his local community.
Social Resilience: IU employment gives Volodymyr dignity, and facilitates his own charitable endeavors: “I can continue doing what I love… and not worry about how I will pay the bills”.
Report from IU Administration, Nikopol:
Хочемо поділитися з вами історію Володимира його серце завжди було направлено на допомогу людям які потрапили у складні життєві становища. Ще до війни він розпочав реабілітаційні 2 центри та відкрив невеликий будинок милосердя, для людей які не мали постійного місця проживання Він надавав їм житло, платив комунальні послуги, оплачував харчування, та можна сказати повністю отримував до 40 людей. Спочатку повномасштабного вторгнення на жаль Володимир та його люди, як багато хто в Україні втратили роботу, так як вони працювали будівельниками, а в Нікополі який постійно обстрілюється ніхто не бажав робити ремонти. Тож коли Володимиру запропонували роботу в компанії Insulate Ukraine для нього це стало рівним моментом. На той момент, він вже не знав як заплатити по рахунках, на які гроші купити їжу для 40 людей, та як годувати власну дружину і двох дітей одному з яких не було ще й року. Володимир працюю в IU вже більше року він каже: « завдяки цій роботі я можу продовжувати робити улюблену справу -допомагати людям і не переживати як я буду платити по рахунках та годувати свою родину.
We want to share with you the story of Volodymyr, his heart was always directed to help people who got into difficult life situations. Even before the war, he started 2 rehabilitation centers and opened a small charity house for people who did not have a permanent place of residence. He provided them with housing, paid utilities, paid for food, and we can say that he received up to 40 people in total. At the beginning of the full-scale invasion, unfortunately, Volodymyr and his people, like many in Ukraine, lost their jobs, since they worked as construction workers, and in Nikopol, which is constantly under fire, no one wanted to do repairs. So when Volodymyr was offered a job at Insulate Ukraine, it was a big moment for him. At that moment, he no longer knew how to pay the bills, how to buy food for 40 people,and how to feed his wife and two children, one of whom was not even a year old. Volodymyr has been working at IU for more than a year, he says: "thanks to this job, I can continue doing what I love - helping people and not worry about how I will pay the bills and feed my family.”
IU Employee: Kyrylo
Impact:
Human Capital Resilience: Kyrylo is able to develop new skills as a window builder.
Economic Resilience: IU employment provides Kyrylo with a steady wage.
Social Resilience: Kyrylo is able to continue helping his community through insulating their homes.
Report from IU Administration, Kherson:
Kyrylo Traichev, born in 1997, worked at the Chornobayivka Airport in Kherson. Because of the full-scale invasion in Ukraine he was fired. During the occupation, he worked in the street market, selling vegetables and cigarettes, lived with his parents and grandmother in the Ostriv microdistrict in Kherson, which was later flooded after the explosion of the Kakhovskaya HPP. Survived the entire occupation and to this day has not left the city. After the de-occupation of the city, he helped the population of the city of Kherson for free in various volunteer organizations. Since August 7, 2023, he has been working for Insulate Ukraine, helping to install windows for people in Kherson.
IU Employee: Valeriy
Impact:
Human Capital Resilience: Valeriy is able to continue working, whilst developing skills relevant to his previous job repairing buildings.
Economic Resilience: Valeriy no longer has to worry about needing money to survive, and was able to start his own family after finding IU employment.
Social Resilience: Installing IU windows fosters community engagement whilst protecting homes: “we could provide not only for ourselves, but we could also help others, it's just a dream job… We hope that we will continue to be useful to our city.”
Report from the ground:
Мене звати Валерій Новіков ще до початку війни я переїхав в Нікополь, тому що не хотів більше жити так як я жив раніше, я сподівався що в Нікополі зможу відновити себе в почати нове життя. Коли почалась я перебував у реабілітаційному центрі. Єдина робота яку ми з хлопцями мали це ремонти в будівлях, але звісно хто буде робити ремонти в місті яке постійно обстрілюютьться. Тож декілька місяців ми просиділи зовсім без роботи, ми дуже переживали з цього приводу: як платити по рахунках, на які гроші ми будемо існувати. Але коли нам запропонували роботу в організації Insulate Ukraine ми були дуже раді, мало того що ми могли забезпечувати себе, але ще ми могли допомагати іншим, це просто робота мрія. Також за цей час я одружився, тепер маю власну родину. Хочу сказати що навіть незважаючи на такі важкі часи для нашого міста і нашої країни, я дуже вдячний за своє життя, за роботу яку маю, за сім’ю. Сподіваємось що ми і надалі зможемо бути корисними своєму місту.
My name is Valeriy Novikov. I moved to Nikopol even before the war started, because I no longer wanted to live the way I lived before, I hoped that in Nikopol I would be able to restore myself and start a new life. When the war started, I was in a rehabilitation center. The only work the boys and I had was repairing buildings, but of course who would do repairs in a city that is constantly being shelled. So for several months we were completely without work, we were very worried about this: how to pay the bills, what money we will have to survive. But when we were offered a job at the Insulate Ukraine organization, we were very happy, because we could provide not only for ourselves, but we could also help others, it's just a dream job. Also during this time I got married, now I have my own family. I want to say that even despite such difficult times for our city and our country, I am very grateful for my life, for the work I have, and for my family. We hope that we will continue to be useful to our city.
Community Resilience: Olena and Ilya
Impact:
Human Capital Resilience: Ilya is able to continue working, whilst developing skills relevant to his career as a builder.
Economic Resilience: IU provides economic stability to Olena and her family, they no longer have to worry about money to buy food.
Structural Resilience: IU windows provide protective insulation to both private homes and public buildings.
Social Resilience: Installation of IU windows “so important for our community”
Report from the ground:
My name is Olena and my husband is Ilya. We are junior pastors in the church Awaking in Nikopol city, my husband is also a builder and I am also a climbing coach. But when the war broke out, we started to help people as volunteers. Every Saturday we, together with people from our church, deliver humanitarian aid to disabled and elderly people in our city: food, water, hygiene products. We also help our soldiers. My husband makes trench candles and we send them to the front line with warm clothes and other important things. Every winter, we install potbelly stoves for the people whose houses were damaged after shelling and are left without heating systems. In February 2023 we were introduced to Insulate Ukraine and their project of window insulation, which we found so important for our city. Since March 2023, our team, together with Insulate Ukraine, has made more than 5000 windows and helped more than 400 families. We have also insulated 4 schools, 3 colleges, a dormitory for refugees, a boiler house of the school, and a fire department. This project helps not only people in our city but also it’s a great help for us as a family because Ilya is a builder and of course nobody wants to repair or build anything in the city which is shells every day so he didn’t work for several months. To work with and for Insulate Ukraine became a very big help for us, and means we do not have to worry about money to buy food and clothes.
Public Building: Semenivska Central District Hospital, Chernihiv region
Impact:
Human Capital & Social Resilience: IU windows provide a better environment for recovery.
Structural Resilience: IU windows provide warmth and protection in environments where glass is inadequate.
Report from the ground:
International Medical Corps made a request for Insulate Ukraine to install windows in Semenivska Central District Hospital in the Chernihiv region. The hospital is located 14 km from the border with Russia. This makes the hospital be in danger every day.
Several weeks ago the hospital was heavily shelled including the main building as well as the inpatient department. A huge amount of windows were destroyed. The building of the hospital is old, it has not been renovated for a long time. A lot of windows are not in a good condition. To fit new glass windows doesn’t make any sense as the hospital is located in a very dangerous spot.
Semenivska Central District Hospital is one of many hospitals near the border with Russia.
Polyethylene windows are the only option for such a location