After returning from the battlefield to the home, veterans face various challenges: rehabilitation, employment, and the need for legal and psychological support. To facilitate the adaptation of defenders to civilian life, the Chornomorsk community in Odesa Oblast has created a Veteran Services Map and a Veteran Policy Department. The community is currently working on the equipping of a veteran hub.

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Mark Kondratiuk was a combat medic and saved people in the most dangerous areas of the frontline. After being seriously wounded, he returned to Chornomorsk. Today, Mark is a member of the working group on veterans' affairs and participated in the creation of the Veteran's Service Map. It is the sub-page on the official Chornomorsk website that contains useful information for the veterans. The resource allows veterans to find the services and contacts they need quickly and read the latest developments regarding available support.

“I was one of the first people in the community who learned about the Veteran's Service Map, tested it, and saw how it worked. I know from my own experience what a veteran needs when he returns from the frontline. This is rehabilitation, medical care and legal protection. The website contains this information,” Mark says.

 

 

Veterans can also find out about benefits and social guarantees, education and employment, cultural and sports opportunities for themselves and their children.

Chornomorsk began developing the Veterans' Service Map as part of the “Collaborative Community Recovery” project, implemented by the Institute for Peace and Common Ground with the support of the USAID HOVERLA Activity. Within the project, Chornomorsk created a dialog working group, which included veterans and civil society representatives. They shared their needs and ideas on how to improve the quality of service provision for veterans.

“We used to post information for veterans in the general news section on the official community website. However, there are a lot of news, and veterans said it was inconvenient for them to find the information they needed, so we created a separate Veterans' Service Map,” Yuliia Pakunova, advisor to the Chornomorsk mayor, said.

 

 

In the future, the Veteran Services Map will be updated with new useful information according to the needs of war veterans. In particular, Mark Kondratiuk, a veteran with severe disability, suggests adding a barrier-free map to help find places accessible to people in wheelchairs.

In April 2024, the Chornomorsk Administrative Service Center opened a “Single Window” and provided more than 260 consultations for veterans in eight months. In October 2024, a department for veterans' policy was opened. The community is currently implementing a new service called “Veteran Support,” which provides veterans with initial counseling and individual support for successful integration into civilian life after returning from the front. Two people in Chornomorsk have already been interviewed for the position of veteran support specialist and are preparing to start work.

During the work sessions, veterans said they needed a place for their community to meet. And the community has already found a suitable space. However, it needs to be repaired and made accessible to all: with a lift, wider doorways, and inclusive restrooms. So, the community's next goal is to set up a veterans' hub.

“This is a space where veterans will receive administrative services, legal advice, psychological support, socialize and just relax. We will also conduct trainings on grant opportunities, starting a business and employment,” Yuliia Pakunova shares her plans.