Mission for Ukraine

SUMMER 2025 UPDATE

August 28, 2025

With Ukraine in the headlines over the last few weeks, we write to confirm that our Mission for Ukraine continues to provide aid and comfort to Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw and those in need in Ukraine. This is a brief summary of the last two months of activities and a number of photographs are posted under UPDATES below.

The Ukrainian schools in Warsaw have been on summer break since late June; however, our many art therapy classes have been operating at six days per week. These are being held at both the Hines Poland’s Wola Center and the Museum of Polish Jewish History (POLIN). The classes have included students from the Love Does School and other Ukrainian schools in Warsaw and also Ukrainian families. Lilia held several art therapy sessions for parents of autistic children and for adults and children with mental and physical disabilities. Lilia and a class of a dozen women completed their three-month project “The World Belongs to You.” They stitched and embroidered a large tapestry and included photographs from their happier times. Lilia and the women exhibited this work with music and singing in the Wola Center lobby and several representatives from the Ukrainian Embassy attended. Lezsek has been giving a carpentry/woodworking class for women Ukrainian refugees, which has been successful. The US charity - LifeSong - brought 40 Ukrainian orphans living in Warsaw to our carpentry/woodworking classes. Finally, one of Lilia’s womens classes involves sewing machines and hand embroidery.

We supported Lilia’s field trip of kayaking on a river outside of Warsaw. She organized the flotilla with many of her students and some of their families. They spent the day on kayaks, floating down to a picnic spot. Once again, a wonderful escape and a quiet time to spend with friends.

Lyudmyla was also busy with her summer camps for Ukrainian children. They meet at a park not far from the city and she provides crafts for the kids. She also provides art and craft therapy for Ukrainian families at POLIN. Lyudmyla and three other families went on a retreat in the countryside . She reported the other families were delighted to escape the city and be in nature for a few days. Their stories of survival and escape from the Russian invasion in 2022 were harrowing. Yet, she says they are all extremely resilient. She sees this type of rehabilitation weekend as vital for so many Ukrainians suffering terrible losses.

Lilia attended a Ukrainian government conference in Lviv, Ukraine to discuss cooperation among therapists in Ukraine and other countries dealing with Ukrainian psycho-social issues.

As we reported last time, our Mission has teamed up with Radiant Hope, headed by Courtney Adams, an American trauma therapist, to work with Love Does School and Happy Kids. Recently, we agreed with Radiant Hope to add the two LifeSong orphanages for Ukrainians not too far from Warsaw. At each institution, she will first start with trauma therapy for the teachers and caregivers.

On the prosthetic side, below-knee sockets using our 3-D printer and prosthetic limbs are still being made and fitted on amputees at the Transcarpathian Regional Clinic Hospital (TRCH) in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. Our Mission will enter into a Humanitarian Aid Agreement with TRCH to further strengthen our ties and also enable us to donate and deliver prosthetic leg components from US and EU suppliers when requested by TRCH. We continue to explore other opportunities to provide prosthetic care in western Ukraine, with the hospital in Vinnytsia and possibly another clinic in Lviv. The US manufacturer of the “Icarus” printer we donated to TRCH, Filaments Innovation, is now owned by Proteor, a 100 year-old French prosthetics company. We will begin discussions with Proteor about expanding in Ukraine with a smaller Icarus printer (“Icarus Lite”) early next month. We know Proteor are seeking a presence in Ukraine. Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital continue to engage with bi-weekly classes for the prosthetic team at TRCH. We believe they may travel to Ukraine late next month.

Thank you very much for your continuing financial support and encouragement. As always, none of what we do would be possible without you.

Slava Ukraine!

UPDATE ON UKRAINE PROSTHETIC CLINIC AND OTHER NEWS:

JULY 2, 2025

Headlines:

More to know:

Our Mission was in Ukraine and Warsaw the week of June 9th.

Ukraine:

We joined team members from our partners, BCM and Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH) and spent two days at the prosthetic clinic at the Transcarpathian Regional Clinic Hospital (TRCH) in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. Karol Kras and Smith Graham were also there.

We met with TRCH Director Yuri Yatsyna, the Ukrainian Team of PTs, OTs, and the local rehab team. BCM and TCH reviewed the project’s progress and growing demand for services. For example, the TRCH clinicians now travel to the Military Hospital in Mukachevo (40 kms) and scan a patient’s limbs there, avoiding patient’s travel. Four amputee patients visited the clinic and were examined by Jared Howell (BCM), including the first double amputee. Jared was able to provide teaching and instructions to the TRCH Ukrainian team and noted significant improvements in scanning, alignment, and troubleshooting, all supported by Invent Medical (Czech Republic) and US partners. BCM also holds biweekly classes for TRCH via Zoom from Houston.

One of the areas of potential expansion is the hospital in Vinnytsia, Ukraine, which has a well established prosthetic clinic, making it a promising candidate for scaling up 3D-printed prosthetics. One of their prosthetists, Serhiy, was with us for two days at the TRCH clinic. Expansion to Vinnytsia would allow for cross-training, foster innovation, and potentially serve a larger patient population in central Ukraine

Coincidentally, while in Uzhhorod, The New York Times published an article about a haven from the war: the Transcarpathian region: (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/06/11/world/europe/russia-ukraine-transcarpathia.html?unlocked_article_code=1.OU8.825X.OwM19YL5Q027&smid=url-share). One of our amputee patients, nicknamed “Dyma,” is quoted and his photograph is in the article. Dyma is a veteran who suffered a horrific experience being rescued on the front line after stepping on a landmine. He was fitted with a prosthetic 3D-printed at the TRCH clinic and is now rehabilitating there. Dyma is determined to go back to his brigade and and serve with his brothers in any capacity the army will allow.

We also spent time at the Pediatric Hospital in Mukachevo. The Hospital is refurbishing rooms to “western” style, that is, installing one bath/toilet for each patient room instead of one bath/toilet for the entire floor. One new patient room (with beds for 3 patients) with private bath/toilet facilities costs about US$9,000. Refurbishing and modernizing a therapeutic bathroom for paraplegic children will cost about US$10,000. The old hospital wards are dark and we saw the huge difference the newly refurbished rooms will make in the children’s therapy. We are considering a donation to the Hospital to improve pediatric patient care.

Smith Graham, who played a key role in Uzhhorod for our Mission, has departed for graduate studies in Paris. Karol Kras is expected to take over, with a focus on supply chain and patient management system development. Karol will also lead the review of expanding from Uzhhorod.

Warsaw:

We also spent one day in Warsaw meeting with the art therapy teams and Love Does School.

We attended one of Lyudmyla’s classes at the POLIN Museum, where three generations of Ukrainian refugees were working on making candles and other crafts. As always, several of the people spoke in their best English to thank us (and indirectly you) for providing these classes every Saturday. It is a slightly different group of Ukrainian refugees each time.

We also met in the Hines Poland Wola Center with a group of Ukrainian women who are working on a special project that Lilia designed. The women have created a large (3m x 3m) quilt with sewing, needlepoint and embroidery to capture memories from old photographs of their families, children and parents. We spoke with the group and some of the women individually. One of the women broke down when describing her pre-invasion life in a peaceful village. During the invasion, she witnessed total destruction of her home, friends’ homes and her village, which is now in utter ruins. She remains determined to return to her homeland. It was an emotional meeting.

Later that day, we met with Lilia and Leszek at a street fair sponsored by one of the city districts of Warsaw. They were selected to bring their woodworking class to the fair for public participation. They were delighted to be so honored. There was a long line waiting to work with drills and saws to make handmade wooden pieces. Both Lilia and Leszek were absolutely thrilled at their success that day. They are close to finalizing establishment of a Polish foundation to enable them to raise money. This will also allow them to participate in Warsaw city grants to further assist Ukrainian refugees. It is inspirational and heartwarming to be with Lilia and Lezsek and see their success and happiness, while knowing our Mission’s efforts set them on a path to do bigger and better things to help so many in need.

We also had lunch with Annemarie Vanlangendonck of the Love Does School. We met and interviewed Rostyslav Bilyk about his dream to attend university next year in Warsaw. Rosty is a Ukrainian refugee who graduated last month from the Love Does School. In addition to attending school five days a week, he also works a shift in a warehouse in the evenings. All of this is to support his mother and two sisters. He was highly recommended by Annemarie and other Love Does administrators. We agreed to provide a tuition scholarship for Rusty’s first year of University. Over time, we will nurture a relationship with Rosty, receive periodic reports and follow his progress.

Here is part of the letter he sent us:

As an aside, Annemarie continues to travel to the eastern and most dangerous part of Ukraine to deliver “maternity boxes” and bring supplies for the Love Does stores in several villages for new and expectant mothers. She, too, is an inspiration.

Our Mission is now providing financial support for Courtney Adams, the founder of Radiant Hope. Courtney is delivering trauma care to caregivers and teachers at both the Love Does School and a Ukrainian orphanage in Ossa, Poland - about 60 miles south of Warsaw. The US nonprofit LifeSong provides some assistance to this Ukrainian orphanage. The 80 or more refugee orphans are housed in the wing of a hotel. Not an ideal situation. Courtney is making progress in getting the caregivers to recognize and acknowledge their trauma. Some trauma care for the orphans is also being delivered by the orphanage and LifeSong; however, Courtney believes the caregivers and teachers must deal first with their trauma before they can help the children. We have a long way to go with this, and Courtney is only one person, but trauma care will be a major concern for all of Ukraine.

Thank you for all your concern and support. Without this, none of this would be possible.

Slava Ukraine!!!

Below under Updates we will post photographs from some of the above activities.

RUSSIA INVADES UKRAINE - JUST THE FACTS

February 27, 2025

Monday, February 25th marked the third year of Russia’s unprovoked invasion of Ukraine. The United States has begun unilateral steps to negotiate a peace accord with Russia. While all this activity takes place on the global stage, our Mission remains committed to our humanitarian work helping the Ukrainian people as much as we can. As we have written before, we avoid taking political sides and we do not provide military support (other than medical equipment). However, as has been written, silence can amount to betrayal. We want to take this opportunity to state the facts and we must stand up for the people of Ukraine.

As such, we would be remiss if we did not state the obvious: Russia invaded Ukraine, Russia is the aggressor, and it is ludicrous to say that Ukraine started this war. Think back and remember the scenes from the early days of the war: Russian troops and columns of Russian tanks and personnel carriers streaming in from Belarus towards Kyiv; missiles flying into urban areas; the Bucha massacre; the bombing of the Mariupol theatre where women and children had sheltered - killing 300 civilians; the indiscriminate bombing of schools, hospitals and churches - reducing so many towns and cities to rubble; torture chambers in Russian occupied areas; the looting and destruction of Ukrainian culture; execution of prominent citizens in many villages and the displacement of 12 million Ukrainians across the country and around the world. On Monday night, Russia unleashed more drones than ever before in the war. Ukraine is hardly to blame. And yet, President Trump and the administration condemn Ukraine and call Zelensky a dictator. Two days ago, the US voted against the annual UN Resolution condemning Russia for the Ukraine invasion.

For the first time, our country joined Russia, North Korea, Iran and Belarus in this vote or perhaps any vote at the UN. Even China abstained.

Also, as you have read, the US sought last week to force Ukraine - through extortion - to agree to a crippling “economic partnership” without any security guarantees. The US proposal remains fluid, but based on a draft of the agreement for a “Reconstruction Investment Fund,” it seems that the US proposal could hobble Ukraine financially, by denying it access to significant domestic revenue just when it needs it most. The draft provides the Fund will reinvest in Ukraine, however the details - such as how much the US contributes - are to be negotiated. The draft is clear in one area: no US security guarantee. We also note the US has not provided $350 Billion in aid to Ukraine. It is approximately $120 Billion and much of that was paid to US military contractors and to restock US arms supplies. Importantly, we should be encouraging investment in Ukraine from all global sources, not depriving it of revenue. A loss of revenue could lead to instability just as Ukraine recovers and rebuilds and the costs to rebuild Ukraine will be gargantuan. A financially weak Ukraine is great for Russia, but not for Europe or, ultimately, the USA. Finally, we do not see how this agreement prepares a path to an armistice or peace.

Lastly, with the loss of USAID funding, hundreds of important projects, such as repairing energy infrastructure, HIV and polio immunizations, rebuilding schools and hospitals, veteran support, teachers’ salaries, first responders’ equipment, fresh water systems, waste-water upgrades, general budgetary support and much more are now gone. This was a safety net that Ukraine desperately needed and still needs. Our Mission cannot begin to plug this gap, but what we can do is continue our efforts to bring a small measure of hope and relief to many.

The President’s revisionist history and the administration’s various proposals amount to a historic betrayal of a long-time ally, Ukraine. It is a betrayal of and dishonor to the courageous Ukrainian heros of the unprovoked Russian invasion, including the Ukrainian civilians - women and children - who have sacrificed so much day after day and night after night over the last three years. Tens of thousands of Ukrainians have paid the ultimate price for Ukraine’s freedom from Russian domination. In our travels in Ukraine, we have seen many cemeteries with dozens of fresh graves.

Despite all this, or perhaps in the face of it, we stand by our Mission’s goals and we will continue to do what we can to help Ukraine as long as you – our generous donors – continue to support the work. Our Mission’s work on prosthetics in western Ukraine, delivering supplies into Ukraine, as well as our art therapy and school lunch programs in Warsaw are needed now more than ever.

Slava Ukraine !!!

INTO THE NEW YEAR

January 29, 2025

Our Mission begins this New Year with the goal of streamlining and increasing the work at the new prosthetic clinic in the Transcarpathian Regional Clinic Hospital in Uzhhorod, Western Ukraine. As we have written, beginning in late November, the clinic has been successful in making below-knee prosthetics for amputees. Baylor College of Medicine has set a goal of 25 to 30 successful prosthetics for patients to conclude that the “system” works. In this event, the plan would be to add a printer or more in Uzhhorod and expand to other hospitals in Ukraine. Smith Graham is a volunteer with our Mission and will live in Uzhhorod to coordinate the efforts of the various stakeholders.

In Warsaw, we expanded our art therapy classes by adding a woodworking class taught by Leszek, a Polish citizen. Last month, the painting and other crafts classes in our art therapy programs at two Ukrainian schools, the Polish Museum of Jewish History, and the Hines Wola Center were all very busy. Please see the Updates below, with photos from December of various holiday preparations: Christmas crafts, Christmas cards for Ukrainian troops on the front line, Santa visiting a class and the woodworking class. We also provided financial support for new furniture in the Love Does School, now that the school has expanded and covers the entire two-story building.

As always, we are extremely grateful for your continued support and your generous financial donations, all of which make it possible for our Mission to continue to deliver - and in small measure improve - the Ukrainian’s situation, be they in Ukraine or Poland.

BRIEF UPDATE – A DOSE OF GOOD NEWS

Dear Family and Friends,

As we approach 1,000 days of nonstop, onslaught, slaughter and destruction from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we write to let you know that our Mission remains focused on what we can do to help those in need. Awash in less than good news about Ukraine and its future prospects, we have great news about our project for manufacturing prosthetic sockets for amputees in Ukraine.

The really good news is that the new prosthetic and rehabilitation clinic at the Transcarpathian Regional Hospital (TCRH) in western Ukraine will be open soon, probably next week. This pilot project will result in new limbs for hopefully 10-20 below knee amputees by the end of this year, allowing them mobility for the first time. The clinic is opening in a deliberate, methodical manner to ensure proper clinician training, patient fitting and safety, as well as patient rehabilitation with their new limb. If the pilot is successful, we plan to layer on more 3D printers at TRCH and other Ukrainian hospitals.

If you recall, our Mission has been working with Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) and Texas Children’s Hospital (TCH) over the past year to open a clinic for prosthetic manufacture, installation and rehabilitation at TCRH in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. We are also working with Invent Medical (Ostrava, Czech Republic) and Filaments Innovation (Allentown, Pennsylvania). TCRH has completely refurbished two areas to accommodate the prosthetic 3D printing and fitting as well as rehabilitation. Invent used our Mission’s 3D printer to reprogram and fine tune their proprietary software for scanning limbs and, importantly, working with Filaments and BCM, was able to improve on the raw material used in the printer to create the socket. Further, BCM decided on Bulldog Tools (Ohio-based socket liner and hardware provider) to provide the liner for the socket, hardware and foot and worked with Bulldog to refine their prosthetic products for the Ukraine clinic. All of these improvements will make a huge positive difference in the manufacture, fitting and durability of the final prosthetic products. The total cost for a new prosthetic, with all the parts, will be about $500 per person.

Last week, five TCRH amputation and rehabilitation clinicians travelled to Ostrava for training on our 3-D printer and other devices at Invent Medical’s headquarters. BCM and Filaments Innovation led the training with Invent Medical’s staff. The training was very successful. On completion of the training, our printer was shipped to the new TCRH clinic and next week will be, fingers crossed, making new prosthetic sockets. Frank and Bill will be at TCRH in Ukraine November 20th to 21st. We will report on the new clinic on their return.

They will also be in Warsaw next week meeting with our partners conducting art therapy and running a Ukrainian school. We plan to meet with “In The Meantime,” the courageous volunteer Polish medical corps saving lives on the front lines in Ukraine as well. We have been assisting in sourcing and providing life-saving medical equipment and supplies.

Below, we post photos from the last couple of weeks of various activities.

Again, we remain committed to delivering aid and relief to the many victims of this unfathomable war. Even if the war is over soon, we will have much to do to help the innocents in rebuilding their lives.

Thank you for your continued and generous support of our Mission.

Slava Ukraine!

Bill & Frank

BRIEF UPDATE – SEPTEMBER 6, 2024

Dear friends,

This is a short update on our Mission’s work since July 1. First, as you’ve read, the Russian response to Ukraine’s invasion has been a significant increase in bombing and destruction of civilian housing and infrastructure, resulting in new levels of killed or injured innocent civilians. Second, Russia’s advance on the eastern front has caused evacuation of tens of thousands, thus a new wave of internally displaced persons (IDPs) on the move. And, this new phase of the war means even more destruction of homes, hospitals and schools. Ukraine needs more supplies of food, bedding, medical equipment and medicines, pet food, clothing, and other items. And, with damage to the energy infrastructure, the country must prepare for another winter. While not always “front page” news, this war continues unabated, and our Mission will continue to do what we can for the people of Ukraine.

We are still working with our partner in Denmark, Fair Dog, and it’s leader, Charlotte Andersson. She and her group continue to receive truckloads of donations bound for Ukraine, although far less than before. Our Mission will continue to assist with the 18-wheeler transportation of these donations to where needed in Ukraine. Next week, they will send 28 pallets of food, pet food, medicines, clothing, medical equipment and other items to Ukraine. Charlotte also recognizes the need for a renewed effort to increase supplies for those IDPs and other civilians preparing for winter. We are looking for ways to increase the donations or to otherwise assist in transporting goods from Europe into Ukraine. Also, we have a contact in France who works with a group that has gathered and sent donations since the war began. Just this week, we made a small donation to enable transport of donated medical supplies from France to hospitals in eastern Ukraine. Several photos are posted in Updates below.

Our work with Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) to establish a Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation (PM&R) clinic in the Transcarpathian Regional Hospital in Uzhhorod, Ukraine remains on track. Current plans are to install our Mission’s 3-D printer (to initially “print” prosthetic sockets for below the knee amputations) and open the clinic in the hospital in early October. We will be transporting the 3D printer from Ostrava, Czechia to Ukraine and have started the lengthy export/import documentation process. This will be a milestone event for BCM, the Transcarpathian Regional Hospital and our Mission. But, most of all and more importantly, the clinic will be a godsend to the many men, women and children amputees in need of prosthetic devices in Ukraine.

As you can read and see from the recent updates below, our Mission’s art therapy program in Warsaw continues to serve hundreds of women and children each week. We are delighted with both Lilia and Ludmyla, whose tireless efforts bring joy and relief to so many. Our lunch program at the Warsaw Ukrainian school, Love Does, continued over the summer as many of the children were there for summer camp.

Back in 2023, we purchased one of the Przmesyl, Poland city buses. It was used to transport a large load of donated goods to Ukraine, but we have been looking for a better use. Health Rite (a US NGO doing all manner of psychological treatment in Ukraine) were interested in using it as a mobile therapy clinic, but they preferred a smaller vehicle. Humanitarian Innovation Group, the Polish NGO developing after school learning labs in Ukraine, may refurbish the bus for a mobile learning lab. We are hopeful that can be done.

Once more, we are grateful for your financial support and encouragement and without such we would not be able to maintain our Mission. Thank you very much.

Slava Ukraine!

Bill & Frank

May 2024: Travel to Poland and Ukraine.

An update since our 2023 Annual Report.

Frank and Bill H. recently spent nine days in Poland and Ukraine meeting with partners and confirming the viability of the new prosthetics clinic at a regional hospital in Western Ukraine, using a 3D printer.

The 3D printer purchased by our Mission and shipped to Ostrava, Czech Republic (for software calibration by Invent Medical) will be moved in August to the new clinic in Ukraine. As we reported in early March, Invent Medical is a leading prosthetics and rehabilitation device developer using 3D printing technology.

This 3D printer will be one of the first, or maybe the first, 3D printer that will be used for making below the knee prosthetic sockets in Ukraine. This will significantly reduce the time to make leg sockets from two days to four hours. Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) will oversee the training of Ukrainian hospital staff and installation of the printer at the Transcarpathian Regional Hospital in Uzhhorod, Ukraine. This first 3D printer will be a pilot program and, if successful, will likely lead to dozens of 3D printers at hospitals across Ukraine. BCM estimates Ukraine has 30,000 men, women and children with below the knee amputations. With one 3D printer, BCM estimates the new clinic can make 150-200 prosthetic sockets by year end and 1000 or more next year.

Our Mission’s 3D printer is manufactured by Filament Innovations (Allentown, PA) and the company’s founder (Mike Gorski) met BCM at Invent Medical’s offices in Ostrava in late May. While there, Jared Howell (BCM) and Mike Gorski worked with Invent Medical on several successful tests of our 3D printer. Both said the prosthetic sockets made in Ostrava exceeded expectations for a new socket, which was fitted on an existing amputee patient.

We travelled to Uzhhorod, Ukraine, and met with with Yuri Yatsyna, Chief Administrator of the Trannscarpathian Regional Hospital, along with Jared Howell and Mike Gorski. Importantly, we confirmed that Trannscarpathian Regional Hospital will be set up and ready to receive our 3D printer in August. Mr. Yatsyna confirmed the hospital will have renovated space available and sufficient hospital rehabilitation staff to manage the new clinic. We left the meeting in Uzhhorod knowing that our Mission’s effort to establish a new 3D-capable prosthetics clinic in Ukraine, which started with our first trip with BCM and Texas Children’s Hospital teams last October, will become a reality in August! More importantly, the new clinic can now provide amputees with sockets and full prosthetics, enabling them to become mobile once more and start rehabilitation.

Before traveling to western Ukraine via Slovakia, we also met with several Mission partners in Warsaw.

In summary, our meetings with BCM and Filaments Innovation at the Trannscarpathian Regional Hospital was a significant milestone to confirm the hospital and staff will be ready for our Mission’s 3D printer in the new prosthetics clinic under BCM’s auspices. And, we were delighted with the exceptional results from our 3D printer’s tests in Ostrava. Further, our meetings and time spent with partners in Warsaw were useful to witness their important work with Ukrainian refugees, discuss ways to improve, and hear their continued desire to support and aid Ukrainian refugees in Poland and work in Ukraine. In our travels, we were reminded daily of how important our work, albeit small scale, is and will continue to be to hundreds of Ukrainians harmed by this tragic war.

As always, we thank you for your continued support, both financially and personally. It is truly unbelievable that this conflict continues. Indeed, the need to render aid to those impacted by this tragedy has not diminished. Our methods and long-term outlook has changed, but the Mission stays its course.

Thank you. Slava Ukraine!