ICMC Ensures Continued Support for Displaced Persons in Ukraine
As the conflict in Ukraine persists, ICMC continues to support Church responses and stand in solidarity with those affected.
‘By donating to ICMC, I am attempting to pay back the assistance that my grandparents received from others when they immigrated from Ukraine early in the twentieth century‘
Gregory Boluch, ICMC donor
ICMC Projects in Ukraine
The ongoing conflict continues to cause widespread mental health and psychosocial issues across Ukraine. Approximately 10 million people are projected to develop a mental health condition, predominantly related to post-traumatic stress, anxiety, or depression, 4 million of whom will be severe cases.
Poor mental health disproportionately affects those who have been displaced, including returnees, women, people with disabilities, and households with a person involved in the war. Signs of acute mental health distress in children are particularly acute in ‘frontline’ conflict areas, while coping with unemployment is associated with higher rates of depression.
To date, ICMC has supported several training events and workshops focused on providing psychosocial assistance, for 100 psychologists, 150 social workers, and 900 seminarians and priests. ICMC also supports specialized trauma, bereavement, and loss training for licensed psychologists and social workers, and additional training in psychological first aid for diocesan staff working with the internally displaced. In 2025-26, this initiative will provide a total of 54 training days for 50 participants, via three distinct training programs taking place at the Roman Catholic Seminary near Lviv. Each participant will receive 117 hours of clinical supervision, and psychologists and social workers will work at the diocesan mental health centers throughout Ukraine.
ICMC is also partnering with the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Lviv, to provide 800 free psychotherapy sessions to both adults and children at diocesan mental health centers. These services are especially important for internally displaced persons, who may have significant mental health needs but are unable to fund their own treatment.
In 2025-26, ICMC is supporting a series of nine planned workshops to assist seminarians and priests to address the urgent challenges facing Ukrainian families during wartime. The first workshop took place in November 2025 at the Kyiv Three Saints Theological Seminary, bringing together approximately 40 seminarians and priests. The remaining eight workshops will take place in the period until May 2026.
ICMC is partnering mental health hub Diyaty to provide free or subsidized psychological counseling for seminarians, designed to prepare and equip them to respond more effectively in pastoral counseling and ministry setting in the future. In 2024, 114 seminarians received free in-person and online psychotherapy sessions to help them manage their own trauma and psychosocial health. 200 additional psychotherapy sessions were provided to seminarians in the first part of 2025, with a further 400 sessions planned for the period until April 2026.
Clergy in Ukraine are specifically called to provide pastoral counselling to people who have experienced loss as a result of the conflict. To build capacity for this centrally important aspect of ministry, in 2025 ICMC is supporting 36 two-hour supervised bereavement ministry (grief counselling) sessions for Greek Catholic seminarians, under the supervision of seminary staff at the Holy Spirit Seminary in Lviv.
‘At a time when the war presents unprecedented challenges to the clergy and the institution of the family, this training is not just important, but vitally necessary’
Father Roman Ostrovskyi
Rector, Kyiv Three Saints Theological Seminary
Since 2022, ICMC has supported the Eparchy of Buchach to provide shelter, assistance, and mental health services at the Chortkiv House of Mercy, a children’s rehabilitation center in western Ukraine city. Since the invasion began, the center has been used to house internally displaced persons, including families, mothers with children, the elderly, and people with disabilities.
In 2025, ICMC support has ensured the continued presence of a team of 14 full-time staff at the House of Mercy, including psychologists, social workers, and physical and speech therapists. Together, they provided 250 individual and group therapy monthly session for more than 150 beneficiaries, with a specific focus on children with autism, Down syndrome, cerebral palsy, and intellectual disabilities, as well as mothers and elderly persons in crisis.
Communities of religious women are also providing crucial shelter and care for internally displaced persons and other vulnerable groups.
In 2025-26, ICMC is supporting the Sisters of St. Albert in Lviv to continue operations at the Ecumenical Center of Mercy of the Blessed Bernardine Yablonska, which began providing housing to internally displaced single mothers and their children in 2024. The facility is a first place of safety for many women fleeing both the conflict and other types of abuse, many of whom were previously homeless. Residency at the center is rotational, and the facility houses and average of 18 women with 15 children at any one time, in addition to providing approximately 100 meals per day to IDPs and local persons in need.
‘The Ecumenical Center of Mercy is more than just a building. It is a place where donors, volunteers, and the Albertine Sisters come together to create a family of mercy – a space of safety, warmth, and spiritual renewal for all who come here. Every person who enters the center has a roof over their head, a warm meal, and acceptance. It’s a place where silence isn’t just the absence of sound, but a sign of safety and a chance for recovery’
Sister Hieronima Dorota Kondracka-Albertine
In summer 2025, ICMC partnered with Saints Cyril and Methodius Greek Catholic Parish in Lviv to provide three two-week summer camps for 157 children and young people, in a faith-based environment.
Led by a team of two priests and two lay facilitators, the camps provided opportunities for psychosocial healing, educational engagement, and social integration. The all-day programming approach, including educational activities, recreation, and daily meals, additionally provided respite and support to their families during the summer break.
‘There was a clear transformation in the children as a result of attending the camps. Children who were initially closed and wary began to open up during their time with us, and parents also reported to us that their children returned home calmer and more cheerful’
Ruslan Valko, summer camp animator
In 2025-26, ICMC’s partnership with Caritas Beryslav is ensuring a free transport service for elderly and disabled residents, for use in both urgent medical situations and for routine medical appointments. The initiative benefits from Caritas Beryslav’s deep knowledge of local needs, drawn from their existing work in visiting those with limited mobility to deliver drinking water, medicines, clothing, and other essential items. Referrals to the service are also made via medical service providers and local government. It is anticipated that the service, the first of its kind in the region, will serve up to 500 individuals during PROJECT PERIOD?
‘Please use my donation in countries that have taken in and support refugees from Ukraine who have fled their home in the face of the brutal and unjust invasion by Russia’
Joseph Jessepe, ICMC donor
