Social assistance
Support and assistance for people facing critical life situations.
POLICE911 Social is the website and public name of the activities of the Department for Assistance and Support to Socially Vulnerable People of the All-Ukrainian Public Organization “Ukrainian Rescue Service”.
Our main areas of work are practical social and humanitarian assistance, individual support, information and consultation services, human rights protection, and assistance in resolving difficult life situations.
Our work is based on many years of hands-on experience helping people directly and cooperating with state and municipal institutions, medical organizations, public associations and volunteers.
The department’s primary hands-on work is carried out in Odesa and Odesa Region. Depending on the specific situation, we also assist with issues in other regions of Ukraine by involving friends, partners and specialized organizations whenever possible.
1. Assistance for people without housing
One of the main areas of our social work is practical assistance to people experiencing homelessness and addressing situations related to homelessness.
Main areas of work:
Emergency social and humanitarian assistance to people experiencing homelessness, refugees and internally displaced people, people forced out of or who left housing because of domestic violence, people who have become lost due to mental or cognitive impairment, and others facing critical life situations.
In individual cases, purchasing tickets and helping people from other cities return home.
Providing food, clothing, hygiene supplies and essential items when resources are available.
Organizing warming points and temporary assistance for people experiencing homelessness during winter.
Social support when contacting medical institutions, social services and public authorities.
Assistance with restoring lost documents and resolving individual social problems.
Assistance with placement of people experiencing homelessness in municipal or community social institutions followed by social rehabilitation.
Cooperation with local authorities on creating and developing social infrastructure for people experiencing homelessness.
Developing and advancing practical solutions aimed at overcoming homelessness and preventing its most severe consequences.
Prevention of homelessness.
Practical experience
Our department has many years of experience helping people experiencing homelessness directly on city streets, organizing winter assistance points, and cooperating with medical institutions and social services.
Particular attention is given to timely assistance during the most dangerous periods, when the absence of a safe place to stay may pose an immediate threat to a person’s life or health.
2. Assistance for older people and people with disabilities
Social and humanitarian assistance for older people, people living alone, mobility-impaired people and people with disabilities.
Main areas of work:
Individual social support for older people and people living alone.
Help with everyday and social issues.
Assistance with applications and placement in geriatric care facilities and other social care institutions.
Information support when preparing required documents.
Assistance in arranging transport for mobility-impaired and bedridden people.
Assistance when contacting medical and social institutions.
Assistance in finding and obtaining wheelchairs, walkers, adjustable beds and other rehabilitation equipment.
Providing food, hygiene supplies, diapers and other care items when resources are available.
3. Assistance for children and low-income families
One ongoing area of our civic and volunteer work is support for children at the “MRIYA” Family Center in Odesa.
Assistance is primarily focused on:
Children from low-income families.
Children from large families.
Children with disabilities.
Children from single-parent families, including those growing up without a father.
Children of refugees and internally displaced people.
Children from families in which a father or another close relative was killed or went missing at the front.
Other children whose families are facing difficult life circumstances.
Main areas of activity:
Regular collection and delivery of food to the “MRIYA” Family Center.
Helping provide hot meals for children.
Cooperation with volunteers, public, religious and charitable organizations.
Providing the “MRIYA” Family Center with general furnishings and supplies.
Finding partners to sustain and further develop the children’s meal program.
This work is carried out on an ongoing basis as part of our civic and volunteer activities and is one of the department’s main practical areas of social work.
4. Assistance for refugees and internally displaced people
Information, social and humanitarian support for people forced to leave their permanent place of residence because of hostilities or other emergencies.
Main areas of work:
Information support when searching for available social and humanitarian assistance.
Help establishing contact with relevant public, charitable and state organizations.
Assistance in finding temporary accommodation within available possibilities.
Consultation on contacting state and social institutions.
Assistance in arranging transport for people who need help.
Individual support in resolving complex social issues.
When issues need to be addressed outside Odesa Region, we involve relevant organizations and volunteers in other regions of Ukraine whenever possible.
5. Restoration of lost documents
Social and information/legal support for people who have lost a passport, identity documents or other necessary documents.
Main areas of work:
Initial consultation on restoring lost documents.
Identifying the institutions that need to be contacted.
Assistance in preparing applications, requests and other required documents.
Help interacting with relevant state institutions.
Individual support for people experiencing homelessness and other socially vulnerable people for whom restoring documents involves additional difficulties.
Particular attention is given to cases where the lack of documents prevents access to medical care, social services or placement in specialized institutions.
In individual cases, we cover the cost of obtaining new documents.
6. Transport of sick and mobility-impaired people
Assistance in arranging transport for people who, because of health, age or other circumstances, cannot move independently or use regular public transport.
Main areas of work:
Information assistance in finding suitable transport.
Individual transport in certain cases using our own vehicle.
Assistance in arranging transport between medical and social institutions.
Help finding specialized transport services.
Assistance in arranging intercity transport.
Information support and identification of available solutions for international transport, including between Ukraine and European countries.
Assistance in coordinating with medical institutions, public organizations and volunteer groups.
When medical accompaniment, special equipment or special transport conditions are required, the appropriate specialized services must be involved.
7. Assistance in medical institutions
Social and humanitarian support for people who are alone, experiencing homelessness, on low incomes or otherwise socially vulnerable while they are in medical institutions.
Main areas of work:
Social support for patients who are alone or experiencing homelessness.
Assistance with everyday and social issues during treatment.
Provision of humanitarian assistance when resources are available.
Cooperation with medical staff and social services.
Humanitarian support for medical and specialized institutions, including equipment, hygiene supplies, consumables and rehabilitation aids.
Help finding and providing individual rehabilitation aids.
Assistance in arranging further social support after discharge.
Help resolving placement of patients in appropriate social care institutions.
Our department has many years of practical experience working with medical institutions in Odesa and assisting patients experiencing homelessness, including people with serious illnesses and disabilities.
8. Funeral and burial assistance for socially vulnerable people
Practical assistance in organizing and directly carrying out funerals for people experiencing homelessness, people who are alone, people on low incomes and other socially vulnerable people.
Main areas of work:
In individual cases, organizing and directly carrying out the burial of people experiencing homelessness.
Helping relatives of low-income and socially vulnerable people organize funerals.
Resolving organizational issues related to burial.
Cooperation with funeral services, medical institutions and other competent organizations.
Organizing funerals with the minimum necessary costs and documentary confirmation of relevant payments.
In individual cases, burial costs are covered from personal and attracted funds.
This work is carried out on a non-profit basis without personal financial gain.
The scope and nature of assistance are determined individually, taking into account the circumstances and available capabilities.
9. Human rights work
Protection of the rights and lawful interests of low-income people, people experiencing homelessness and other socially vulnerable people.
Main areas of work:
Consultation on social rights and state guarantees.
Assistance in preparing applications, requests and complaints.
Representation of socially vulnerable people before local authorities and state institutions within the powers granted.
Assistance in protecting violated rights when accessing social services.
Help interacting with state and municipal institutions.
Participation in council committees and discussions on social policy.
Preparing proposals for creating and improving municipal social institutions.
Assistance in removing administrative barriers that make it difficult to obtain necessary help.
Our department has practical experience working with local authorities and participating in council committees on protecting the interests of people experiencing homelessness and people on low incomes.
Particular attention is given not only to solving individual problems but also to finding systemic solutions that can improve the situation of socially vulnerable people.
10. Humanitarian assistance and logistics
Organizing the receipt, transport and distribution of humanitarian aid to people who need social support.
Main areas of work:
Collection and delivery of food.
Distribution of clothing, footwear and essential items.
Providing personal hygiene and care supplies.
Distribution of diapers for adults and children.
Assistance in providing rehabilitation aids.
Organization of humanitarian cargo transport.
Cooperation with public, volunteer and charitable organizations.
Humanitarian assistance is provided according to people’s actual needs and the material resources available.
11. Practical experience creating social facilities
Alongside direct assistance, our department has practical experience creating and equipping social infrastructure facilities using our own and attracted resources.
One completed project was specialized Ward No. 6 for patients experiencing homelessness at Odesa City Clinical Hospital No. 1.
After agreement with the medical institution’s management, the room intended for patients admitted directly from the street, including people with serious illnesses and limited mobility, underwent a major reconstruction.
The work included replacing utilities, windows, doors, ceiling, flooring and interior finishes, and installing new furniture, hospital beds and individual lighting.
Artists decorated the room with landscape compositions.
The project was implemented using the initiator’s personal funds and assistance from friends and acquaintances.
The ward provided dignified conditions for accommodation, treatment and care for patients experiencing homelessness. It operated for about two years and was destroyed in 2019 during a major renovation of the hospital building.
This experience became one of the foundations for developing sustainable models of social infrastructure designed for long-term operation and preservation of the humanitarian purpose of the facilities created.
12. Our plans and projects
Our work is not limited to solving immediate social problems.
Based on many years of practical experience, we develop new humanitarian projects, prepare proposals for international partners, engage public organizations and seek opportunities to build sustainable social infrastructure in Ukraine.
Main projects and development areas:
First Social Assistance Center in Odesa
A project to create a low-threshold First Social Assistance Center for people facing critical life situations.
Its main task is timely first social assistance, temporary safety and initial stabilization of a crisis, followed by assistance in obtaining specialized support.
An international investment proposal has been prepared. Funding, partners and suitable premises are being sought.
Large Volunteer Center
A project to create humanitarian infrastructure for cooperation among public organizations, volunteers and charitable initiatives.
The main idea is to combine resources, humanitarian logistics, warehousing capacity and participants’ practical experience to improve the effectiveness of assistance.
The project concept has been prepared, and work is underway to identify opportunities for implementation.
Support and development of the “MRIYA” Family Center
An ongoing area of practical humanitarian work focused on providing food for children facing difficult life circumstances.
Alongside ongoing volunteer work, we are looking for partners and sustainable sources of support for the children’s meal program.
International humanitarian cooperation
Developing cooperation with foreign public organizations, charitable foundations, private philanthropists and other potential partners.
The main goals are to exchange practical experience, attract resources, develop social infrastructure and implement humanitarian initiatives in Ukraine.
Our goal is not only to help people today but also to create sustainable social mechanisms that can function for many years.
Individual support and how to contact us
Every life situation has its own characteristics and requires individual consideration.
We seek not to limit ourselves to general information, but whenever possible to help identify a practical solution, coordinate with specialized institutions and organize necessary assistance.
The scope of assistance depends on the nature of the request, the person’s location, available resources and the capabilities of our partners.
For a specific situation, use the “Contact us” section.
The AI-based POLICE911 Telegram bot is also available for information and consultation support on social, rescue and first-aid issues.