Almost exactly three years ago, I lay awake in my New York apartment, my attention fearfully glued to my newsfeed as the night crawled on. Just hours earlier, my Ukrainian friends’ social media feeds suddenly shifted from the beauty in the banal of everyday life — birthdays, pets and filtered selfies — to a digital flood of anxious posts as Russian tanks barreled towards Kyiv.  

Just a few years earlier, I began my Jewish professional journey in Odesa, Ukraine. As a JDC Entwine Fellow, I learned from and forged friendships with professionals supporting vulnerable populations and nurturing the bright sparks of Jewish renewal re-kindled in an independent Ukraine. I lived there during the February 2014 Revolution of Dignity in Kyiv, but unfortunately my time in the country was cut short due to security concerns around Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea and subsequent assault on Donbas. The same community that welcomed me in 2013 would be devastated far more in 2022 and in the three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion. 

Victoria Neznansky-Grin (fourth from right), a Jewish licensed clinical social worker and former refugee from Ukraine, stands with a group of wounded Ukrainian soldiers after a session she led for them in Dortmund, Germany. She is a four-time volunteer with Federations' Global Volunteer Hub. Courtesy/JFNA

In the days following Feb. 24, 2022, I exchanged distracting memes and existential questions with friends from across Ukraine who had, overnight, become de facto war correspondents. Some reported live as their children flinched at the sounds of the first air raid alerts and explosions. Others sent updates from cavernous metro stations, armed with pillows and power banks; or from cars packed with belongings, sitting in the endless one-way traffic towards the western border. No matter where they were, they all had the same question: Now what? 

For me, that answer would come sooner rather than later. 

When the war broke out, Jewish Federations of North America, partnered with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and Jewish Agency for Israel, immediately sprang into action, working to help people on the ground and raise funds to support refugees. Within weeks, they established a Global Volunteer Hub to allow for the deployment of North American, Ukrainian- and Russian-speaking volunteers to offer rapid-response psychosocial and logistical support to the refugees crossing the border into neighboring countries.  

I feel privileged to be a part of this platform, which identified the needs of European partners supporting refugees and launched a centralized process to match these organizations with skilled North American volunteers. Since then, 250 volunteer placements have served with 21 partners in eight countries. 

As another painful anniversary of the invasion approaches next week, I’m saddened that many have already lost interest in the war. As a Jewish professional with deep ties to Ukraine, I certainly haven’t; thankfully, neither have JFNA. 

In fact, the desire to support Ukrainians, in-person or virtually, remains strong. We recently surpassed the 1,000-volunteer mark, with volunteers providing logistical assistance, medical translation, psychosocial support and professional development for local staff. Others served as camp counselors, art therapists and language instructors. Our continued efforts also include a partnership that allows JFNA’s virtual volunteering initiative, “Connect for Good: Chat with Ukraine,” to recruit and match English speakers with Ukrainians for weekly English conversation practice and cross-cultural exchange.   

Many who volunteered abroad in 2022 remain so committed that they’ve since volunteered again — 41% of volunteers have returned more than three times. They offer not only language skills and professional experience but compassion and connection to the beneficiaries and the local staff supporting them. Nearly 85% of the 2024 volunteers were repeat participants, including Victoria Neznansky, a four-time volunteer and chief development and social services officer at the YM & YWHA of Washington Heights and Inwood.  

“I tell my brave, strong group members [local professionals] that I offer them my arms as a Jew, a Ukrainian, a New Yorker, a mother, a therapist, a teacher and former refugee, to protect them from their ongoing trauma and loss, to empower and support them in their remarkable work with Ukrainian refugees,” Neznansky-Grin says. 

Over a decade ago in Odesa, a former boss and friend shared what became a guiding philosophy for me: Immediately after a crisis, be sure to listen before jumping in with the solutions. This is what enables you to best understand someone’s needs and support them sustainably. First, one must invest in listening — make room for them to think and breathe before you jump in with solutions — and that may be an ongoing process for them and you. 

In keeping with this wisdom, our efforts have evolved in response to our partners from deploying rapid crisis response volunteers to now in 2025 helping meet an ever-changing landscape of enduring mental health and integration-related needs for vulnerable groups. 

“The therapists who came via federations enabled and strengthened a multi-layered support system in numerous German cities. These skilled specialists provide highly-effective support to refugees, wounded soldiers and families. Their extraordinary contributions serve both as practical help and a profound symbol of solidarity — our transatlantic cooperation a testament to the power of global unity and compassion,” says Natalia Zeitz, manager of migration and integration for Softdoor, which focuses on health and career coaching, including specific support for vulnerable populations.  

As we prepare to mark three years of full-scale Russian invasion and eleven years of war in Ukraine, JFNA remain committed to working in this space. We take pride in our achievements and will continue striving to impact the lives of Ukrainians and the heroic local professionals and volunteers dedicated to supporting them. 

My time in Odesa exposed me to the power of volunteerism in our global Jewish community and continues to indelibly shape my life’s trajectory, even leading me to my current role. While my story is just one of many, JFNA have created a mechanism for meaningful, impactful service and our growing community of volunteers and partners serves as an enduring source of inspiration. 

Hannah Miranda Miller is the program director for Jewish Federations of North America’s Global Volunteer Hub.