The Ukrainian delegation learns about trauma recovery programs while visiting Nebraska, Iowa

OMAHA, Neb. (WOWT) – Whether it concerns reconstruction after heavy storms or after war, Heartland Family Services says picking up the pieces goes beyond repairing homes and finding food and clothing.

It also requires addressing the trauma of the disaster.

“It’s something that happens maybe two or three months down the road,” says president and CEO John Jeanetta. “The trauma starts to show up for people in ways that they may not even understand or understand at the time.”

Here’s what a delegation from Ukraine learned this past week in Nebraska and Iowa.

While their disaster may be the result of bombs rather than storms, it’s still something they’ll eventually have to work to overcome.

“We will have a lot of problems, and social problems even,” said Poltava, Ukraine’s deputy mayor Tetiana Bardina.

“This visit and all the meetings were all so interesting and all very useful.”

Heartland Family Service said it worked to connect people with counseling and other resources during the pandemic and after the 2021 derecho to help people deal with those mental wounds before they became bigger problems, such as substance abuse, domestic violence and job loss. because it hinders reconstruction efforts.

“You can start a downward spiral instead of an upward spiral,” Jeanetta said.

Mental and behavioral health care is something that Ukrainians say they don’t have much of in their country.

“All the information we have collected is very useful,” Bardina said. “It’s actually a very high level of organization. So we need all these things in my country.”

They won’t wait until the last bullet is fired in the country’s war with Russia to think about it. The purpose of their visit is to learn which programs in the United States they can incorporate back home when the dust settles.

“They’re going to have to rebuild,” Jeanetta said. “So they’re now more or less simultaneously trying to deal with a disaster, recover in moments when the violence isn’t happening – and then also look to the future, knowing that when this is over, they’ll have a lot of work to do. ”