ForPEACE

08/23/2026

"Please give me the flags. I'll hide them. I'll keep them safe."

August 23 is Ukraine’s Day of the National Flag

15 miles from the Russian border, in the liberated county of Stariy Saltiv, flies both the Ukrainian and Stariy Saltiv county flag on their administrative building.

Every flag that flies comes at a cost. Most have a story.

This is the story of the flags flying in Stariy Saltiv and the woman, Zoia Habarova, who risked her life to save them.

Sharing this story of Zoia is simply the tip of the iceberg. Since her community fell under occupation, she together with the other local residents who make up the local organization Dobri Diyi (Добрі Дії громадська організація), have been central to resistance and humanitarian relief in the community and beyond. Since liberation they have continued these efforts and expanded into leading reconstruction efforts.

Zoia's husband is a wounded veteran of this war and her son who still serves has been defending Ukraine against Russian military aggression since 2014.

On this day we recognize the Ukrainians now and across history who have done so much for the making and preserving of Ukraine and recognize the profound meaning in the symbols of Ukrainian statehood such as the flag.

(P.S. The buzzing you hear in the background is the sound of locals in the community volunteering to cut the hair of Ukrainian soldiers.)

08/10/2026

This July, our partners Сільська благодійна організація "Зоря" on the ground in Зорянський старостинський округ Мирівської ОТГ kept a community going — one that sits just outside occupied Enerhodar in Zaporizhzhia. With forPEACE's support, the local charity "Zorya" provides salaries to local families who mowed and cleared public spaces, cared for young plantings, delivered drinking water to neighbors who can't carry it themselves, prepared housing for displaced families, and kept building out the shelter beneath the House of Culture.

They even turned trash into hope: residents sorted and baled household waste for recycling, earning ₴14,000 (about $340) that goes right back into the village. Kids watered the hibiscus bushes and watched the first flowers bloom.

This is what your support makes possible — not just a cleaner town, but a community that keeps choosing to care for itself and each other. 💙💛

08/03/2026

We're deeply honored to share this post from our partners at Об’єднання Відповідальних Громадян (Union of Responsible Citizens).

This past week, Lena Contor — a Ukrainian-American from Pocatello, Idaho came to visit various projects that she and her community from City of Pocatello - City Hall have fundraised to support. What began for Lena five years ago as a trip to Poland to help displaced Ukrainians at the border has turned into an international community-to-community friendship connecting Pocatello to various partners and projects across Dnipropetrovsk to nearly the frontline zones of Kherson (and Kharkiv, but that's for another post!).

In Kryvyi Rih, Dnipropetrovsk Oblast, Lena and her Pocatello community spearheaded fundraised to support HART Recovery Space (ГАРТ - простір відновлення) a rehabilitation center providing comprehensive care for veterans and their family as well as surviving spouses and spouses and family of Ukrainians soldiers missing in action and/or in captivity.

While HART is a three story facility providing psychological and physical rehabilitation services, HART is more than a building. It's the nucleus for an entire community-wide ecosystem addressing the needs of a population traumatized by five years of war with the vision that their community is prepared to not just rehabilitate but "revitalize" each other as Juliy Morozov, the co-founder of HART, puts it.

This entire social ecosystem extends beyond the rooms of their physical and psychological program. It includes horse therapy sessions, a public art hall, and partnerships with other grassroots initiatives across the city and country. A taste of which was shown and shared with Lena on her recent visit.

Thanks to the generosity, proactivity, and care of the everyday people of Pocatello, forPEACE was able to remain a primary partner in the ongoing construction of HART (ГАРТ).

To our partners: thank you! None of this happens without people willing to stand alongside one another, story by story, brick by brick.

Thank you Lena Contor, thank you City of Pocatello - City Hall and thank you Об’єднання Відповідальних Громадян for your dedicated work caring for your war wounded and vision to make sure those suffering from the visible or invisible scars of war in your community do not fall through the cracks unnoticed and uncared for.

Разом ми будуємо. Together we build. 🇺🇦
Not tomorrow. Not when the war is over.
These are people who were already building yesterday.
These are people who think in terms of now.

(n.b. in which we learned that бац (pronounced b-ah-ts) is a Ukrainian onomatopoeia for a sudden sound!)

07/25/2026

Thank you again, Bountiful City UT, for the opportunity to join your Pioneer Parade and celebrate a pioneer spirit that knows no borders!

Thank you to all who participated and how special to now share these videos and photos with our partners in liberated Novovorontsovka, Kherson Ukraine.

Americans are with you, Ukraine! And now, more know that Novovorontsovka is particularly proud of their watermelons. ;)

Нововоронцовська селищна військова адміністрація

07/25/2026

Thank you! Bountiful City UT and Kate Bradshaw for Bountiful City!

Нововоронцовська селищна військова адміністрація 💛💙

07/25/2026

Happy Pioneer Day, Utah! 🇺🇦🤝

This February, together with Josh Chandler, we helped connect the Нововоронцовська селищна військова адміністрація in Ukraine with six cities-- Bountiful City UT, Sandy City, Spanish Fork City, City of North Salt Lake, West Jordan City Hall, Nephi City - City Government-- across Utah's Wasatch Front.

What the leaders found was that, despite the vastly different conditions they were living in, good city governance looks the same in war and in peace. A natural friendship formed between leaders sharing the same vision: the development of their communities and the well-being of their residents.

In recognition of the friendships begun at the start of 2026, Bountiful City UT Pioneer Parade featured a Novovoronstovka- Bountiful handcart.

In response, Нововоронцовська селищна військова адміністрація, prepared a special greeting for Utah in which they also shared what the pioneer spirit means to them in the video below :)

It's exciting to be part of making a big world small -- and see how we do and can naturally unite.

We're certainly looking forward to growing these friendships further.

07/21/2026

04/17/2026

🌉"Star Valley builds bridge to Ukrainian community in crisis"

📣 Wyoming friends! — On February 14 2026, we built an incredible and inspiring bridge between two communities that are more than 5000 miles apart.

🟦🟨 Everyday residents of Star Valley took out time from their Valentines day to listen to community leaders from Novovorontsovka (Нововоронцовська селищна військова адміністрація) share about the reality of their prefrontline county and how they face such truly existential challenges with the will and vision to not simply "survive", to not just wait it out, but actively rebuild, improve conditions, and dare to thrive.

💛 💙Their personal story powerfully shows how much ordinary people can do when you leverage the power of community, local knowledge, and loyalty to home. Exactly how much? Ordinary people are the very literal frontline staving off a genocidal nuclear superpower.

🤝In our capacity as ordinary people of a “neighboring” community, we can support them.

⁉️ How can we help ?

✍️Wyoming residents are bringing a letter to Senators John Barrasso and Cynthia Lummis and Representative Harriet Hageman at the Ukraine Action Summit in Washington, DC (April 19–22), to demonstrate the support Wyoming people want to see provided to Ukraine. If that's you, please add your name to this letter:
https://q2x17d2l.forms.app/add-your-name-and-stand...

And please share!

👫We built the bridge, now let’s start crossing it!

🙏Thank you so much for showing up in February and the support you expressed. Thank you for the call to action raised by a member of your own audience who stood up to say that Star Valley must stand with Ukraine in honor of one of Star Valley's own, Dane Partidge, who chose to support Ukraine's fight for liberty and sealed that commitment with his own life.

HomepageHighlightStar Valley builds bridge to Ukraine community in crisis Highlight Regional News Star Valley builds bridge to Ukraine community in crisis Janet Erickson Posted on April 16, 2026 Post Views: 10     • Advocates return to U.S. for political support through petition signatures Star ...