The Salvation Army Supports Ukrainian Refugees in Reims, France

May 15, 2023 | Evangeliques.info

Forty Ukrainian families are housed at the Nouvel Horizon center in Reims. The Salvation Army helps them with administrative procedures, paying bills and sending children to school.

The Salvation Army has supported around forty Ukrainian families in Reims (Marne) since their arrival in the city last year. They are mostly women with one or more children. The spouses, mobilized in the conflict, have in most cases remained in the country.

At the Nouvel Horizon accommodation centre, the foundation’s volunteers ensure basic needs, but not only. They also help them to carry out the administrative procedures with the Family Allowance Fund (CAF) and to obtain papers, and provide financial assistance to manage the invoices. They also guide them to send their children to school.

Oleksiy, 27, recounts how he and his wife woke up on February 24, 2022 to the sound of an explosion, as their phone kept ringing. “My wife was pregnant. She had a very difficult delivery. […] They set off as soon as she was able to walk again. The mother and their baby left the country first, he explains in a short report to the center.

Many families are traumatized by the war. “They are still afraid even though they are safe in France”, completes the Salvation Army in an article. Ukrainian refugees also express a strong demand to consult a psychologist and put their shock into words.