03/01/2022
Giving Vital Help to the People of Odessa, Ukraine
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Natalia was born in Dnipro on April 15, 1934. Her family moved to Odessa in 1938. In 1941 the family was evacuated to Siberia (in total, there were 10 family members there, and Natalia’s mother was in charge of them). She started school there and continued her education in Odessa, when the family moved back there in 1946.
After school Natalia graduated from Food Processing University and had various jobs afterwards until she retired in 2007. Her favorite job was teaching at a college. In total, Natalia worked for 50 years of her life.
Natalia lives in an apartment on the second floor in one of the old houses of Odessa. The apartment is calling for repairs and has quite old furniture. She suffers from numerous health disorders including high blood pressure, heart disease, digestion disorders, and limited mobility. Her monthly pension is $120. She has to take a lot of medications, so Hesed’s help is vital. Hesed Shaarey Tzion assists Natalia through such programs as home care (40 hours per week), personal hygiene supplies, Moked (dry cleaner services), loan of rehabilitation equipment, and medications.
“Hesed to me is like my mother," Natalia said. "She used to be everything for me. Now Hesed is everything for me. My Home Care worker Sveta is my eyes, my ears, and my hands. I can’t imagine my life without Hesed.”
With the current situation in Ukraine, Natalia depends heavily on Hesed, a program of Federation beneficiary JDC, to get access to food, medication, and other necessary resources. Your support of the Federation makes sure that Natalia and others are helped.
