STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. — As Russia’s invasion of Ukraine approaches its grim one-year milestone, one Staten Island-based nonprofit is doing its part to help support the soldiers of the sovereign nation.
Kind Deeds brings Ukrainian soldiers who have lost limbs in the war to New York City, where they are fitted with prosthetics and provided rehabilitation therapy by a crew of volunteer medical professionals — all at no cost to the soldiers.
“It was a lot of work to build the team, but we were willing, and we had the strength to do it, and the desire,” Oleksandr Rubtsov, president of the organization, told the Advance/SILive.com.
Started in April 2022, Kind Deeds’ initial mission was to aid Ukrainians fleeing the country as Russia ramped up its offensive. The nonprofit — which received its 501(c)(3) designation a month later — helped facilitate the evacuation of at least 3,000 refugees in the first few months of the war, according to Dr. Dmitry Shevchenko, director of the organization’s medical board.
Kind Deeds then shifted its focus to those who stayed to fight.
Kind Deeds helps Ukrainian soldiers who have lost limbs in the war travel to New York City, where they are fitted with prosthetics and provided rehabilitation therapy by a crew of volunteer medical professionals — all at no cost to the soldiers. (Courtesy of Kind Deeds)
STATEN ISLAND’S ROLE
The nonprofit’s work with amputee soldiers began in piecemeal.
“When we started, we had no budget, no funding whatsoever, so we just started reaching out to people on social media, asking if anybody could host our first two soldiers,” said Shevchenko, clinical director of Prokinetics Physical Therapy and Rehab On Wheels. The Brooklyn resident also runs an occupational therapy and hand therapy clinic on Sand Lane in South Beach.
“There was a family on Staten Island that was willing to host them. [That] saved money on housing, and then we were able to have a prosthetist volunteer his time to make these prosthetics, and then my company sponsored occupational therapy.”
Those first two soldiers — a 23-year-old and a 35-year-old who each lost a leg to landmines during different battles — stayed with the family for two months.
Following the duo’s recoveries and departures, Kind Deeds found an affordable house to rent in Midland Beach. It has since become home base for several amputee soldiers, both in Kind Deed’s care — there are currently four who range in age from 22 to 29 — and soldiers in the process of being helped by other U.S.-based organizations.
Oleksandr Rubtsov and Dmitry Shevchenko in Times Square with Anton and Viktor, the first two soldiers Kind Deeds helped. (Courtesy of Kind Deeds)
THE PROCESS
Kind Deeds operates with a team of volunteers in Ukraine’s military hospitals, which identify candidates for aid.
From there, it works with multiple U.S. and Ukrainian agencies to expedite visas for the soldiers, and helps them obtain permission for temporary leave from the Ukrainian military.
Once soldiers arrive in New York City, they get fitted for temporary prosthetics, receive physical therapy, and are eventually fitted with permanent prosthetics before returning to Eastern Europe. All in all, soldiers stay for about 60 days.
Once soldiers arrive in New York City, they get fitted for temporary prosthetics, receive physical therapy, and are eventually fitted with permanent prosthetics before returning to Eastern Europe. All in all, soldiers stay for about 60 days. (Courtesy of Kind Deeds)
As they heal physically, they also heal mentally, said Shevchenko.
”It’s not just physical rehab, it’s also psychological in a way because we have electricity here, and there’s no bombing in America, thank God. [Bombing is] something that they’re undergoing when they’re in rehab in Ukraine. ... [Here] they take their mind off the war and partly from their injuries. They’re able to get treated well here. It uplifts their spirits, and I think it’s a very good environment for them to be in.”
Their minds are never far from their homeland, however.
“Some soldiers express desires to go back and fight to defend their homeland. ... a lot of them seem like they actually want to go back and fight,” said Shevchenko.
Kind Deeds volunteers welcome soldiers at John F. Kennedy International Airport. (Courtesy of Kind Deeds)
AIMING FOR GROWTH
Kind Deeds functions within a tight budget funded by local donations. The cost to help each soldier varies, but falls within the range of about $15,000 to $20,000 per soldier, according to Shevchenko. Soldiers pay nothing out of pocket.
Though a small-scale operation right now, both Rubtsov and Shevchenko want to grow Kind Deeds’ outreach and impact.
“Ideally, we’d figure out the logistics, and then scale the operation up tenfold,” said Rubtsov, a Miami resident who has temporarily relocated to New York City while overseeing Kind Deeds’ endeavors. “We have hundreds of people on [our prosthetics] waitlist, we just don’t have the funding [to help them right now].”
Anton and Viktor, the first two Ukrainian soldiers helped by Kind Deeds, with physical therapist Vitality Gonikman. (Courtesy of Kind Deeds)
He hopes to eventually work with Staten Island’s two private hospital systems — Richmond University Medical Center and Staten Island University Hospital — to offer soldiers rehabilitation closer to their accommodation, since Kind Deeds currently has to send its patients to clinics in Brooklyn and Long Island.
”That would be a great help for us, because we could bring more soldiers that way,” said Rubtsov.
“Our goal is to help as many soldiers as we can, and eventually civilians as well, who lost limbs in this terrible invasion,” added Shevchenko.
He also appealed to Staten Islanders interested in helping Ukraine.
”If you support freedom, join our cause.”
In addition to helping Ukrainian amputees, Kind Deeds provides shelter, food, medicine and humanitarian aid. To donate to Kind Deeds, visit kinddeeds.org.
Follow Kind Deeds on Facebook and Instagram (@kinddeeds_us)