Returning from the front to civilian life is a path that requires time, deep internal restructuring, and adaptation to new realities. How can we help defenders find new meanings, fulfill themselves professionally, and regain a sense of control over their own lives using the tools of informal education?

To find answers to these questions and hear the voices of veterans themselves, our team at the Voznesensk Community Foundation conducted a study. During April–May, three comprehensive focus group discussions were held in our community, bringing together 26 participants. We invited veterans (including those with disabilities or who have been through serious injuries and captivity), servicemen, as well as family members of defenders, missing persons, prisoners of war, and fallen Heroes to a frank conversation.

This study was of an exclusively applied nature for us: we sought not just to record statistics, but to understand the deep processes of reintegration in order to develop a roadmap for real management decisions in the community.

New roles and common challenges: how the life scenarios of defenders' families are changing

The main qualitative conclusion we made during the meetings: reintegration is a path that a veteran and his family go through together as one team. Returning home after a front-line experience changes the usual way of life, the family's financial strategies, and requires a redistribution of responsibilities. The most painful stage for many is the search for a new professional identity, when the previous job becomes impossible due to health conditions.

Our focus group participants describe their condition not as an acute crisis, but rather as a long-term internal tension that families have to adapt to in their daily lives. Often, it manifests itself in such basic things as sleep disturbances or sensitivity to loud noises, which emotionally affects everyone around them.

At the same time, we saw the incredible inner resilience and responsibility of our people. In conversations, they rarely focused on their own pain or discomfort. Instead, they primarily cared about the peace and safety of others — children, parents, or fellow soldiers. It is this enormous potential for caring and mutual support that can become a solid foundation for recovery if the community lends them a shoulder in time.

Four key challenges we identified

During the discussions, respondents clearly outlined the main barriers that prevent them from fully returning to the civilian rhythm:

1. Fragmentation of the support system. The community has disparate tools (legal advice, payments, social services). However, there is no single logic for combining them. Veterans and their families are forced to independently search for information and track routes in different offices. The lack of coordination creates a sense of chaos and causes additional fatigue.
2. Request for long-term psychological rehabilitation. Formally providing a few consultations does not work. We have seen a high demand for specialists who understand the context of war and the specifics of combat experience. In addition, the entire family system needs help - wives, mothers and children. There is currently an urgent need to develop peer support groups.
3. Social isolation and communication barriers. Some veterans tend to narrow social contacts as a self-protection mechanism. Feelings of misunderstanding from the civilian environment and complex, bureaucratic procedures for interacting with officials force people to close themselves off. The community critically lacks safe, inclusive spaces for lively informal communication.
4. Need for career navigation. Employment is perceived by veterans as a return to personal autonomy and dignity. A huge number of participants expressed a willingness to retrain (learn new professions, technical specialties, entrepreneurship). However, a clear trajectory is lacking: people do not know where to start their studies, which courses are realistic given their health status, and where to look for mentoring support.

Education, sports and space: our growth points

Despite significant challenges, the study showed that our community has enormous potential for change. Participants identified the following as key resources for recovery:

• Non-formal education: Short-term practical courses and micro-programs create a sense of movement forward. The main condition is that the training should be adaptable (flexible schedule, applied nature, support from mentors).
• Adaptive sports and activities: Physical activity in a group format (swimming, table tennis, petanque, shooting, or fishing) is recognized as an effective method of regaining control over the body and overcoming isolation through new acquaintances.
• Information transparency: Creating a single information resource with clear action algorithms can significantly reduce the level of anxiety.

System management solutions: how we proceed

The results of this study form the basis of the updated veteran policy of our Foundation and the community as a whole. We have identified three strategic steps:

1. Implementing a case management model: Moving from fragmented services to individualized long-term care. The case manager should become the family’s single point of contact, helping to coordinate medical, educational, and employment issues as people’s needs change over time.
2. Establish ethical standards of interaction: The way decisions are communicated is often more important than the decision itself. The tone of communication and the level of respect directly affect the sense of dignity. We plan to initiate training for service providers to eliminate formalism in communicating with veterans.
3. Preventing professional burnout: The resilience of the system depends on the resilience of the people who work in it. Social workers and psychologists who deal with combat trauma on a daily basis need regular supervision and support.

The main conclusion for us: Veterans, IDPs, and youth in our community have clearly declared their desire to be active agents of change, not just passive recipients of services. They are ready to get involved.

And we have already moved from theory to action. Based on the results of the research, we held participatory workshops with veterans, the Youth Council, and internally displaced persons. Together, we designed the future inclusive street space near the veterans' hub and in the central square. Radius benches for communication, a court for petanque and tennis, street cinemas — all these are ideas from our residents, which we are already implementing.

We will also directly use the analytical data obtained to adapt the Adult Education Center's curricula and develop the future Community Career Center.

The article was prepared with the support of the International Renaissance Foundation within the framework of the Project "Impulse: Empowering Civil Society for Resilience and Recovery in Ukraine", implemented with funding from Norway (Norad) and Sweden (Sida), in partnership with the Eastern Europe Foundation. The content of the material does not necessarily reflect the position of the International Renaissance Foundation, the Government of Norway and the Government of Sweden.