90 years old man was forced to flee from Donetsk region during the recent war between Russia and Ukraine

Her first husband was exposed to radiation during his Army service and died young of cancer. The second husband was seriously affected by the war in Afghanistan where he fought. She never had her own children but adopted and raised two. Nowadays she is blind and lonely.

Elena is 80 years old. During the war of 2014 between Russia and Ukraine she stayed at home being unable to escape. No food, water, electricity, communications or medical services were available. She survived only thanks to the Joint fund humanitarian help

Raisa, her husband and two kids have 52 USD/month of total income. The husband is recovering after a stroke, the kids are studying at a college. All the money the family spends on the medicines and public transportation. It takes the kids 3 hours of a bus ride to get to the college.
The family’s food supply consists of the home-grown vegetables and the humanitarian help coming from the "Joint" fund.

Angelina’s father is in jail. She spent with him only 3 months of her life.

Eleonora’s dreams were all about ballet. She devoted to it all her childhood and youth but was forced to leave. She ended up working at a post office, but never stopped admiring ballet and enjoying life.

"Otherwise I’d need to spend an additional 10 hryvnas (0.3 USD) a month on electricity, which is a substantial sum for us"

“Never ever in my life I’ve had a single tasty meal. In childhood I was starving and later I had only low-quality meals at a factory where I had been working. The soup at the factory canteen reminded a thin broth, and the main course had always been just awful. So when I started to attend Hesed soup kitchen I couldn’t believe my own happiness”

Danya suffers from microcephaly. He lives in one tiny room with his mother and father. His father used to be a police instructor until recently he was selected for redundancy and fired. Without assistance of the Jewish charity the family would literally have no bread on their table, not to mention expensive medicines needed daily to support Danya’s fragile body. In this incredibly challenging situation Danya’s parents find their life fulfilled: they love Danya and dedicate themselves to him.

Today here lives a lonely elderly woman surrounded by anti-semitic neighbors. A memorial plaque devoted to Bialik was removed due to the safety reasons. It is stored at the Jewish community center

Both of them are disabled since childhood. Both can barely walk. They met each other several decades ago, gave birth to a daughter, despite being discouraged from doing so by family and community. Now their daughter is 18, she takes care of the parents and is making her career in teaching disabled children. Spouses Kramarenko made their family an absolute center of their lives.

A year ago X. had an attempted suicide episode and now busy "doing nothing" as he defines it himself. All the family, regardless of his gruffness, treats him warmly, with a great love, especially Z. who all the time hangs on him like a little monkey.

Dima was absolutely healthy until the age of 3 when a routine immunization at a kindergarten has brought an infection which made Dima disabled. Epilepsy developed, with severe leg pains and seizures. His condition kept worsening all the time. By the age of 31 he could not even sit up on his bed, he spent his days lying and listening to the radio.

He became so weak that he couldn’t even speak, short of answering “yes” or “no” when his father addresses to him.
His mother died of cancer when he was in his late 20s, and only his father remained to take care of him. The father was only showing his true love and admiration to Dima, hiding away his tears, fear and depression. He is visually impaired himself, with his own health deteriorating with years and constant stress. He was afraid most of passing away, which would leave Dima all alone. This didn’t happen. Dima was first to pass away, at the age of 32.

// The picture is taken on assignment for "Joint" charity organization (www.jdc.org) which provides funding for the day care center for children with disabilities from disadvantaged families

After Nelli has lost vision her life would be impossible without homecare worker provided by charity organization. This homecare worker soon became Nelli’s closest friend. Nelli is far from being an easy-going person, and she knows it, that’s why she highly appreciates patience and true care of the homecare worker.

Fanya is 90 and she’s got a handsome boyfriend which makes her great-granddaughters experience envy.

Ilya suffers from severe form of autism. He doesn’t tolerate any changes. For decades he keeps sitting in the same worn-out armchair in the very corner of the living room. He throws away through the window any new items he notices, sometimes these include food. It is extremely difficult to keep him calm, and only total and unconditional love of his father can make it. They live alone, two men, in a flat where everything is in stasis for over 30 years.

Lera’s life which began as a disaster gets constantly saved by people who love her. She was born deaf, and doctors didn’t see any chances for improvement. Thanks to efforts of her family and financial support of JDC she got a high-end hearing device and special training from a speech specialist. Now she is not just capable of hearing and speaking but she studies at a regular school, acts at a theatre and often gets all sorts of awards for her numerous talents. In 2013 a tiny flat where Lera lives with her family caught on fire. Her father was severely injured, and the flat became unsuitable for residing in it. See next picture to know how the situation changed in 3 years after that.