From War to a Fresh Start: How one-time grants help people rebuild lives and businesses

These grants enabled them to not only set up their own businesses or undergo vocational training but also create employment for other people who were forced to flee their homes.

For many, the name Mariupol evokes haunting images of destruction and admiration for the resilience of its people. For Tetiana, it is the home she was forced to leave when the full-scale Russian invasion turned her life upside down. Now, nearly three years later and a thousand kilometers away, Tetiana is bringing a piece of Mariupol’s heart to western Ukraine.

After the start of the full-scale war, Tetiana fled Mariupol with her young daughter, first to Dnipro and eventually to Ivano-Frankivsk. She left behind her older parents, her career as the head of a bank branch, and the comforting familiarity of her life in the once vibrant city by the Azov Sea. But Tetiana carried something with her—the spirit of the city which now lives on in “Dusha” (The Soul), a cozy café she opened in Ivano-Frankivsk with grant support from UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. The café’s walls are adorned with symbols of Mariupol, and its motto, “A part of the soul in every coffee cup,” invites guests to experience the warmth and hospitality of her hometown.

The café quickly became a success, and Tetiana’s vision grew. She opened a second location and hired two employees, including another displaced woman from the Odesa region. Driven to improve her craft, Tetiana is currently taking a culinary course in France, ensuring that her cafés continue to thrive. She credits her business not only with providing financial stability, but also with helping her to find her place in her new community.

“We offer coffee, desserts, and sandwiches, but also heartfelt conversations to our customers, and this job also helped me to feel a part of my new community. I like to put my soul into everything I do, and people feel it,” Tetiana said.

From displacement to entrepreneurship

In 2022-2023, UNHCR provided 34 business grants and 22 vocational training grants to support internally displaced people in Ukraine to rebuild their lives, achieve financial stability and become self-reliant. The programme was implemented in four western regions of Ukraine, including Zakarpattia, Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk and Rivne. Of the 56 people who received this assistance, as of end 2024, 38 of them have businesses that remain operational, a survey indicates. Moreover, these ventures have helped to create employment for an additional 28 people, many of whom were also displaced.

One of them is the beauty studio “Petite Rêve” (Little dream) that was opened by Olha who fled to Ivano-Frankivsk from the occupied city of Melitopol in Zaporizhzhia region. She currently employs seven women, including some who were internally displaced like herself. With the grant from UNHCR, Olha expanded her entrepreneurial initiative from a modest manicure service to a full-scale beauty studio offering hairdressing, brow artistry, and more. She also gives back to her community by training local and displaced women in manicure techniques, free of charge.

“The UNHCR business grant gave me a boost. Of course, I had to invest my own money, but with the grant money, I covered about 70 per cent of what I needed to start my own business. I probably would not have dared to do something so big, so large-scale, if it was not for this grant. Now, I am also able to teach a basic course to other women to help them master their skills. I invest as much as I can, and I really want them to succeed,” Olha shared.

Helping people return and remain

For another business grant recipient, Olena, the journey to her own thriving business took her from fleeing Zaporizhzhia, staying six months in Italy as a refugee, returning to Ukraine and moving to Ivano-Frankivsk. Having faced so many challenges, she decided to finally go after her dream – to set up a sports club called “Pride”. UNHCR’s grant enabled Olena to expand her business and now the club offers classes in Muay Thai boxing, gymnastics, karate, pilates, and stretching for children and adults.

“I am a choreographer myself, and my husband is a Muay Thai boxing coach. In Italy, we realized that we will not be able to find a job in our sectors, and I felt that this life is not for me. We decided to return and start building something by ourselves. Our club is not just about fitness, but also about creating connections between displaced and local people,” Olena noted.