Pastor Gennady Makhnienko and his wife Elena a have devoted the last 15 years of their lives to helping orphaned street children in Mariupol, Ukraine. Since they started this effort, the Makhnienkos have fostered or adopted twenty nine children. They currently have ten children living with them in addition to their three biological children. Unfortunately, due to a lack of finances, the family is split between two one bedroom houses that are located approximately thirty minutes away from each other. The larger house is home to 10 of the children and does not have a bathroom. Ukrainian law dictates that a foster family home must meet certain square footage requirements per child. Sasha, one of the children living with the Makhnienkos, lived on the street for the first 15 years of his life. He had never been to school or slept in a house until he met the Makhnienkos several months ago. However, the court system will not let the Makhnienkos receive official documentation to adopt or foster Sasha unless they meet the square footage requirements.

The goal of this project is to build an addition, including a bathroom, onto the back of the Makhnienko house so that the entire family can live together under one roof while meeting the government’s square footage requirements for foster and adoptive families.

Doorways raised $15,000 to complete this project.

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