"Workshop on Wheels" initiative brings home repair assistance to Ukraine's most vulnerable families

The Workshop on Wheels initiative, a collaboration between UNHCR and NGO partner Angels of Salvation, has been bringing critical home repair support to Ukraine's most vulnerable families affected by the ongoing war. Since its successful pilot in the Kharkiv region in 2024, the program has expanded to six regions - Mykolaiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Kherson, Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia - where Russian aggression has caused widespread destruction.

A team of 13 mobile repair experts now operates across these regions, providing assistance to families whose homes have suffered damage from shelling and aerial attacks. Since its inception in 2024, the initiative has repaired over 1,300 houses, replaced more than 3,000 windows and restored over 55,000 square meters of roofing, enabling families to maintain their homes and stay connected to their communities.

The initiative recognizes the unique challenges faced by older people and those with disabilities, who often lack the tools, technical knowledge or physical ability to make repairs independently. In fact, more than 1,300 recipients of assistance, comprising half of all people supported by the project, are older individuals or people with disabilities. For many of these individuals, receiving construction materials alone is insufficient, as they require practical support to restore livable conditions to their homes.

UNHCR Representative in Ukraine, Bernadette Castel Hollingsworth, emphasized the importance of this approach, stating that "assisting these vulnerable groups has often meant the difference between remaining in their homes or being forced to leave due to uninhabitable conditions." The program underscores the critical need for hands-on support to help families recover and rebuild in the face of the ongoing conflict.