History

A few words from the Founder

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen,

Right at the beginning of the war in Ukraine, I began to support the people in Ukraine both directly and indirectly.

Initially, I co-organized demonstrations against the war in the cities of Bielefeld and Herford. I have deep ties to Ukraine and have many friends, acquaintances, and family members there. Therefore, I helped people from Ukraine find safe escape routes and transport to Germany. As soon as they arrived here in the Herford district and in Bielefeld, I searched for private accommodation for them.

Word spread very quickly that I was able to help from Germany, and so more and more people asked for my assistance and were successfully able to flee Ukraine. I involved more and more acquaintances, friends, and their contacts to provide housing options for Ukrainians. My contact details were shared extensively throughout Ukraine, and just two weeks after the start of the war, dozens of families and individuals—most of whom I did not know at all—were contacting me daily.

Since I have never refused support to anyone, I now receive almost non-stop messages and calls daily via six different messengers (WhatsApp, E-Mail, SMS, Telegram, Signal, Phone). To manage all of this, I duplicated my phone number, and my partner now assists me via a parallel phone as an assistant and contact person to answer the many cries for help from Ukraine. However, I am also contacted by many Ukrainians who are stuck in other countries or are already somewhere in Germany and cannot move forward.

Because I helped out at the City Hall and the Social Welfare Office in Bielefeld for a while, the city employees know me and have registered me as a contact person for hundreds of refugees. In the first 4–6 weeks of the war, together with my helpers, I was able to accommodate more than 500 people in private households throughout Germany. Many others I directed to central initial reception centers (ZUEs) and refugee shelters.

As the workload increased beyond what I could manage alone from home, I approached the DRK (German Red Cross) and was provided with an office directly in the DRK Herford building. From there, I was able to operate and, parallel to my voluntary work with the DRK, inform people about safe evacuation routes and transport options, as well as organize accommodation. I advised and consulted many people daily. In addition to my work at the DRK, I helped twice a week as a translator during consultation hours at the ZUE Herford.

As more people across Ukraine shared and actively used my number, I realized that these people needed significantly more help. Therefore, I decided to prioritize helping people directly in Ukraine. Many required psychological support over the phone from my helpers and me. We searched for ways and means to get people out of highly contested zones and occupied territories.

Every day, the number of our helpers and supporters grew, and we became a community acting not only across cities but across national borders. More and more people turned to me for help for themselves or their families. However, the work at the DRK restricted me too much, so I joined the NGO "Be an Angel" and looked for ways to become even more free and unrestricted in order to help more people.

For "Be an Angel," I coordinated relief supplies to Ukraine, engaged in fundraising, and organized evacuations from various regions. Yet, the possibilities there were also limited, so I simultaneously contacted other NGOs and coordinated evacuations for them as well, such as "Road to Relief" or "Humanfrontaid."

Eventually, the moment came when I decided to found my own NGO to be able to act and help even more independently. Today, I work with six other NGOs, serve as the President (Chairman of the Board) of the NGO "Helpchain," and help Ukraine and Ukrainians in many different ways. In addition, I coordinate evacuations from Odesa via Moldova to Germany, Austria, and Italy.