From Boulder to Vinnytsia: Hands-On Support for Ukraine's Veterans

Boulder County integrative manual therapist and health practitioner Jaymi Devans has traveled on 4 August as a volunteer to Vinnytsia to work directly with Ukrainian veterans as they recover from the physical and emotional wounds of war. She will be in Vinnytsia for five weeks. Her selfless service and desire to support Ukrainians in this long war embodies perfectly the spirit of the Sister City relationship.

Boulder County practitioner Jaymi Devans works with a Ukrainian veteran at the Pobratym Veterans Hub in Vinnytsia.

Jaymi’s work combines orthopedic manual treatment with somatic approaches aimed at relieving pain, restoring movement and function, and helping people recover from trauma. She also has a clinical background as a Family Nurse Practitioner (MSN & LMT). Her practice specifically encompasses orthopedic conditions, post-operative rehabilitation, trauma resolution and resilience—experience particularly relevant to veterans coping with serious injuries and the long process of recovery. A frequent issue with Ukraine veterans are blast injuries.

In Vinnytsia, Jaymi will be working the Pobratym Veterans Hub and other health centers, contributing her skills directly while also learning from the Ukrainian practitioners and veterans confronting these challenges every day. Her presence represents exactly the kind of people-to-people partnership the Boulder–Vinnytsia Sister City relationship hopes to foster: bringing specialized experience from our community to Vinnytsia, learning from Ukrainian colleagues, and finding practical ways to support veterans as they rebuild their health and their lives.