ElitExpert continues the series of interviews with the heads of humanitarian and volunteer organizations of the Odesa region, who took part in the First Closed Charity Auction "Volunteer amulet«.
Today we are talking with the representative of the well-known Charitable Foundation "Joint Decision" Olena Vavilova, a public activist and a deputy of the Fontansk OTG, who after the start of the full-scale war became involved in volunteer activities.
- People are not born volunteers. Why did you choose this field of activity and when did you start doing it?
- My active public activity and helping people started in 2016. At that time, I held the position of assistant to a regional deputy, represented his interests and received citizens. I can say that I enjoyed meeting people and helping them solve their problems. I turned to the deputy for support, and we managed to help many. At that time, we did not even think about the fact that our actions can be called volunteering. At that time, this word was not as popular as it is now.
With my election as a deputy in 2020, nothing has changed - I continued to actively welcome citizens. Every day I held meetings in different settlements, talked with people, helped them, went to places, drew up documents and delivered aid.
In general, from 2016 to 2020, we formed a group of people to whom we provided regular support. It is about three hundred families from the Fontana community who needed medicine, food, clothing, hygiene products, etc. We also supported people with disabilities, large families and low-income families. By 2020, the number of such families in need increased to 700 due to the lockdown and job losses even in prosperous families.
At the same time, we started distributing masks in medical facilities and purchasing covid tests for free testing in the Dobroslav regional hospital and community dispensaries.
— Do you work exclusively in Fontanka?
- Until 2020, our main activity was really focused on the Fontansk community, but during the pandemic, we became known throughout the region. We distributed leaflets with emergency numbers, which included the contacts of our team, including my personal number. This led to the fact that our help became known in the villages of Kotovskyi and Tairov, and later even in Bilhorod-Dnistrovskyi and Izmailskyi districts. We tried to help everyone, although our activities are mostly concentrated in the Fontansk OTG. It was more convenient to work here, primarily due to the support of local businesses, which responded more actively to our requests, because the entrepreneurs knew the families we help and understood that their contribution helps our people. Of course, if a family was on the brink of disaster, we extended our support beyond the community.
With the beginning of the war on February 24, when everyone was confused and many tried to leave the city, a lot changed for us. Despite the uncertainty, already on February 25 we gathered and decided to act. Someone offered to engage in the production of anti-tank "hedgehogs", someone - to build roadblocks. I took over the organization of food for people at checkpoints. We delivered food to the school canteen, prepared meals there, and our volunteers delivered hot lunches to checkpoints three times a day. At that time, there were many roadblocks, as well as people at them, everyone was afraid of the landing... We also provided the roadblocks with tactical first-aid kits and clothing.
Therefore, I can't say from what moment we became volunteers - probably, we were them all the time, we just didn't think about it.
— Where do you get money for your business? Do you have a certain source of funding?
— At the beginning of the war, we actually did not have any financing and accumulated funds, so we worked with personal contributions. Everyone contributed what they could: some brought money from home, some provided other resources. We made purchases with these funds.
Then we got sponsors, in particular, the group of companies "Riviera Development", which supported us, in particular, in the formation of food packages. At the same time, we carefully planned expenses and looked for the most profitable offers in order to use the provided funds as efficiently as possible. If there were promotions on products somewhere, we immediately went shopping to buy as many products as possible - if the promotions were on sugar, then we bought sugar, if on oil, then oil.
And sometime in May, we realized that the war was gaining momentum and was not going to end, and we began to interact more actively with international organizations. Among them was World Central Kitchen. By the way, cooperation with them helped us a lot. They provided products, and we took responsibility for logistics and distribution of products among people, mostly displaced people, according to lists. But what remained after that, we could distribute among the poor residents of our community.
— And how did you solve the issue of housing for immigrants?
At first, some acquaintances gave us apartments while they themselves left or moved. So we have several apartments for the resettlement. Then other people began to actively offer us free housing, including parts of their houses and cottages, seeing how we help displaced people. There was even a demand for housing families with pets.
In general, we tried to meet all the needs of people fleeing the war: not only for housing or food, clothing, but also for medicine. At the same time, we began to cooperate with other funds, for example, with "Good Samaritan", MAT "Medical examination at home", "Hospitable house", which allowed us to increase the amount of assistance even more. At the same time, we also had sponsors, many of whom helped not publicly.
— Yours, Fontansky?
— No, it's not only Fontana, it's also Odesa businessmen, large companies that preferred to remain anonymous and mostly clearly indicated that the funds were intended for military needs, not food. They directed funds to drones, thermal imagers, and cars. There were specific offers from sponsors who wanted to help a certain military brigade.
In general, our activities were divided into two major directions: assistance to the poor and displaced persons, and support to the military. We divided the responsibilities within the team: the men were more involved in military aid, and the women were more involved in the search for medicines, overalls, sleeping bags and other things. And in general, then we practically had a "conveyor belt": everything had to be distributed very quickly, because new and new help came. Our volunteers endlessly unloaded cars, handed them out, delivered them, and so on day after day.
- Do you have a warehouse for storing humanitarian aid?
— We have been using our office as a warehouse for a long time, because it has ceased to be suitable for official meetings or negotiations. It turned into a kind of second hand. Everything became very tight, and it was necessary to move carefully so as not to fall on something. In addition, our guys used their houses and garages to store humanitarian aid.
— What is more difficult to raise funds for - military needs or civilian needs?
- It was always more difficult for the military, because the cost of one drone can cover the purchase of a huge amount of food. But we tried to solve everything depending on the needs and requests.
By the way, now our main focus has just shifted towards supporting the military. This does not mean that we have stopped helping civilians, but we have suspended the delivery of humanitarian food packages for the time being. Now we provide more purposeful assistance to the residents of our community who find themselves in a difficult situation. Because the resettled people do receive help from the state and from philanthropists, but the residents of the community do not.
· How often do you encounter the fact that people who need help are not homeless, large children or dysfunctional families, but quite ordinary people who, due to certain circumstances, found themselves without means of livelihood?
— Very often, this is about 80% of appeals. Many people suddenly found themselves in a difficult situation. They can have an apartment, a car, but have absolutely no means of living. And, by the way, such people often do not ask for help, we come to them ourselves. Sometimes neighbors tell us: "There is such a humble family in our street, could you help them?". And we simply come and offer help, include them in the list of those in need. Even if we can't help them with food right now, I try to provide help through the local government, such as helping them get a one-time financial aid or medical aid. We also submit applications and help get financial support through regional structures. This also counts as our help.
— Can you say whether it is difficult for people today to interact with the state and local authorities?
— Yes, because of bureaucracy, which cannot be eradicated. I am a deputy, but I absolutely do not like bureaucracy. I don't understand why people can't be given a certificate on the spot, but have to be driven here and there.
At the same time, there are many intermediate links between the local government and the state. The result is a complex and confusing system, and as a result, no one is responsible for anything, people are sent up and down the authorities, forcing them to collect certificates that should be issued by completely different bodies.
And a person who is already stressed and traumatized, may have lost loved ones or lost property, instead of receiving quick and effective help for adaptation, faces bureaucratic obstacles. This only worsens his psychological state.
At the same time, I would not say that the problem is in the state. In fact, I see many positive initiatives being taken at the state level. But due to the fact that there are people working in the field who are tired and disillusioned with their work, the effectiveness of these initiatives decreases. For example, people who work in social security agencies - and it is high time for them to change their work methods and attitude or to vacate their place! They are angry with visitors, they are tired of them, because they encounter a huge number of people every day. It is like a surgeon who operates for decades and eventually becomes indifferent to whoever is under his knife, be it a child, a woman or a man. So are social security workers: they don't care who is in front of them - a widow, an injured soldier and so on, they are just tired and bitter. They stopped looking at people with compassion, with a desire to help. This situation must be changed.
— That is, no one canceled the human factor.
- Exactly. Moreover, this principle, unfortunately, also works in the opposite direction. Over time, some people, coming to us, become a little insolent and no longer ask, but need help. As for the distribution of clothes, some people began to confuse the humanitarian headquarters with a clothing store: they ask, "Is there such a coat, only in size M?" or "Is there a mirror so I can see how I look?" This factor greatly affects many foundations, which subsequently limit their aid and direct it exclusively to people living in active combat zones. For example, the World Central Kitchen fund also left Odesa region and now provides only crisis assistance.
— And how often do the people you help thank you?
— I always say that it should be taken lightly. If you help, don't expect thanks. This must be clearly understood. If there is, then it's good. To date, we have almost two and a half thousand wards. If 500 people remember you in a year, that's good.
- Standard question: What are your future plans?
- We are thinking about the future. For example, I would like our team to survive and continue to develop. I like that each of us grows and develops: someone in the political sphere, someone achieves success in business. And since many of us are deputies and members of the executive committee, I would like them to continue their political career and develop in this direction.
But at the same time, of course, we plan to develop charitable activities. We would like foreign sponsors to come to us so that the help is international. I would like some communities to help through our foundation, if it is possible, because we have created all the conditions for this.
In the summer of 2022, the French foundation ACTED came to us. I negotiated with them for a long time about help, wrote them many letters. Three months later, they came to us, even though our district was not in the zone of active hostilities. They visited many places and paid compensation of 6600 hryvnias to each person - about three hundred people received financial support. We provided help and support in organizing a meeting with the needy, provided premises and conditions for fast and efficient work of the fund. After that, the employees of the foundation were delighted, but regretted that they would not be able to help us more.
— What is your priority now? If aid to the military, what exactly and to whom?
Now our priority is drones and electronic warfare systems (EWS), thermal imagers and cars. Now we mostly work with some brigades located in the hottest spots: Kherson, Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia, Kharkiv directions. We even helped a separate presidential brigade named after Bohdan Khmelnytsky. We are also in contact with the Main Directorate of Intelligence and try, including through the local council, to allocate the necessary funds for their requests. For example, if UAVs worth one and a half million are needed, we strive to allocate this money through the local budget. It is a great advantage to be a deputy and to have the opportunity to solve such issues.
Still, I can't say that now we work exclusively with the military, because it's easier for us to find food, first-aid kits, medicine, clothes, and diapers — and then organize their distribution on the spot. But fulfilling a request for military aid is more difficult, you need to look for sponsors.
— And finally, we would like to ask you to tell us about your team…
- We have a really great team, made up of people from different fields and professions. In our public organization, no one works in the literal sense of the word. Twenty people are always around me. We are friends and colleagues. We can celebrate holidays together, argue, discuss something, sometimes dividing into groups for closer communication. But at the same time, our advantage is that we make friends with each other. There is no such thing as someone doing a great job and someone not so much. Of course, there are people who find help and organize it, and those who distribute it. But each of us makes an important contribution, whether it's finding or distributing aid or performing other necessary tasks.
We have neither subordinates nor managers - we are all equal. And this is our huge advantage.
Olena Ovchinnikova spoke
