CORE Helping Entrepreneurs in Ukraine Grow Their Business Amidst War
While on the frontlines defending his homeland, Ihor often thought about what life would look like if he made it through. If he somehow survived the horrors that he saw all around him, he wanted nothing more than to live a simple, meaningful life. His thoughts took him far away from the battlefield, to the times he spent abroad as a teen, living with his extended family in France. There, his family ran a small farm. It seemed perfect.
Before the war, Ihor had worked on making that dream a reality. He studied all he could and even traveled all over Europe for farm internships, where he learned to raise animals. He planned to start a poultry farm in his home village in Lvivska oblast, western Ukraine. But when the war happened, he joined the fight.
That didn’t change his plans, though. Instead, they were a part of what kept him going. “Whenever I had a few free minutes, I studied farming and planned the future launch of a business. It was my way of distracting myself from the stress of the fighting,” Ihor said.
Over the years, with each combat check, Ihor continued working toward this goal and started buying equipment for the future farm. After fighting for two years in defense of his country, Ihor was discharged from service in 2024. He’d survived active combat and could now put all his time and effort into building that meaningful life.
So, he, his wife, and their three children moved, and together they started a business raising quail.
But realizing dreams is often difficult. As any small business owner will tell you, there is so much that you don’t know or can’t account for at the start. Sure, in Ihor’s case, he’d done all of the studying and research, but there was still a lot to learn. Like, how does one go about marketing a business to help it grow and increase sales?
RELATED | CORE HELPS PROVIDE JOB TRAINING FOR TRAM DRIVERS IN UKRAINE
Luckily, through a veteran’s group, he heard about a vocational training program offered by CORE that was aimed squarely at people like him, young entrepreneurs in Ukraine, looking to improve their business. So, he decided to sign up for a marketing course. The class provided exactly what Ihor needed. “Now I am confident that my business will experience new growth thanks to this knowledge,” he said.
With these new skills, he’s planning to use this information to expand his farm. “I plan to expand my business and add rehabilitation services for veterans. It will be hippotherapy, where people who have returned from war and need recovery can get it by spending time with horses or riding them,” Ihor said.
Ihor is confident that this will be a relevant venture for a long time, given the number of veterans and civilians who have suffered from the war. He believes the education he received will help not only his business but also people in need of rehabilitation.
It’s been four years since the start of the war in Ukraine—four years since war upturned the lives of everyone in the country. Since 2022, CORE has provided support to Ukrainians impacted by this war. In total, we’ve supported 2.4 million people. From providing shelter support to refugees and internally displaced people to repairing water systems to vital winterization and entrepreneurial training, CORE has worked tirelessly to help those impacted by the war.
This is what empowerment looks like.
We give people the tools to continue building long after we’re gone. Ihor, like all Ukrainians, deserves to find that meaningful life, and we’re honored to have helped him on his journey towards it.
If you would like to learn more about our work in Ukraine and get involved in relief efforts, please visit please visit our response page.
