How We Help

Last Bell staff and volunteers meet orphanage graduates as they enter Zhytomyr trade schools. We invite them into relationships, begin learning about their needs, and introduce them to the good news of Jesus’ love.

We offer support in the following areas:

Education and life skills training
We do as much as possible to help orphanage graduates succeed in their education so they can thrive in adulthood. We help them develop their strengths with tutoring, study support, and guidance. We help them pursue higher education, assisting with applications and sometimes tuition aid. Through our life skills training and mentorship, we help orphanage graduates learn to take care of themselves.

Vocational training and job search
The Last Bell staff models and teaches a strong work ethic to orphanage graduates. We also look for work opportunities within the Zhytomyr community. Using an apprenticeship model, we train some of our youth in marketable building trades. We seek out and develop vocational opportunities so all our youth can become financially independent.

Basic needs and advocacy
We offer practical assistance through a food and clothing pantry, a laundry room, and showers. We’re also available to our youth for advocacy in medical crises and other needs that arise in daily life.

Secure housing
We work in creative ways to help orphanage graduates find housing. We offer transitional housing, and we restore the unlivable properties some of our young people inherit. We also help with the search for apartments and advocate with landlords, who can be averse to renting to orphans.

Christ-centered family development
We invest in orphan-led families with intensive aid, parenting training, and whole-family mentoring. This includes the children of orphanage graduates. We offer transitional housing in our Shelter building to young mothers in high-risk situations.

Opportunities for spiritual growth
Our staff is comprised entirely of Christ-followers who seek to develop relationships with orphanage graduates in each chapter of their lives. We also connect them with local church communities and offer discipleship to those who choose to follow Jesus.

The cultivation of future leaders within the Last Bell community
Last Bell’s eldest former orphans are emerging leaders with great potential to impact the future. Our view is long-term and optimistic. We believe God wants to enable the formerly-orphaned and their children to change Ukrainian culture.

Program Details:

Educational Outreach

Educational Outreach to trade schools is our primary point of connection with recent orphanage graduates coming into the city from all over the region. We offer on-site life skills classes in twelve of the Zhytomyr trade schools attended by orphanage graduates. As we develop one-on-one mentoring relationships, we invite them to special group events and outings. Our youth often spend time at our Day Center in the downtown area, where we also offer legal assistance, help with housing, medical advocacy, counseling, and humanitarian aid.

Stop the Cycle

Our Stop the Cycle program assists orphan-parented families, especially single moms. We offer parenting classes, summer retreats, spiritual mentoring, a childcare co-op, and help with basic needs. There are times when orphan moms need to leave an abusive or exploitative living situation; through Last Bell’s Shelter Crisis Housing facility, a three-story house in the heart of Zhytomyr, we provide safe transitional housing.

The Restoration Project

Many of our youth inherit uninhabitable property. The Restoration Project is an apprenticeship program, training a group of orphanage graduates to restore the apartments and homes of fellow orphans. Last Bell staff provide both construction oversight and mentoring. The young people who participate will become employable and able to participate in restoring their own communities.

Learn More

Seasonal: Summer Camps

Summer camps lay vital groundwork for long-term relationships with local orphanage graduates. They quickly discover that camp isn’t just a nice trip to the sea or the mountains, but an opportunity to develop trust in adults who care about them. We offer camps for several groups including orphan students at trade schools, older orphans we know well, and Stop the Cycle, our growing community of orphan-led families. We see the fruit of these trips year-round.