When helping others, experience becomes important, especially in circumstances that involve interacting with a different culture—such as the ones implied in providing services to refugees. When disability is added to refuge, multiple types of experience become necessary, with the capacity for cross-sector collaboration being an asset. This paper explores the impact of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on the capacity of the Polish and Romanian organizations providing services to Ukrainian refugees in Warsaw and Bucharest, with a focus on disabled refugees. Based on 41 interviews with service providers/grass-roots organizations, it turns out that this unfortunate event served as a natural laboratory for practicing, acquiring, and increasing skills in multiple domains, leading to increased personal and institutional expertise. We inspect the differences between Warsaw and Bucharest, the first city having more experience in dealing with incoming flows of immigrants, the second being a newcomer in this respect. We also consider the distinction between public providers (public administration) and non-governmental organization entities, observing the upscaling of the latter. Implications for policy are considered within the framework of curtailing civic society under the illiberal wave.

The authors have declared no competing interest.

Yes

I confirm all relevant ethical guidelines have been followed, and any necessary IRB and/or ethics committee approvals have been obtained.

Yes

The details of the IRB/oversight body that provided approval or exemption for the research described are given below:

Ethics Committee for Scientific Research at Collegium Civitas, Warsaw, Poland. The Ethics Committee for Scientific Research provides advisory and consultative opinions on services provided by research and research projects at Collegium Civitas, ethical standards in science. https://civitas.edu.pl/pl/nauka-i-rozwoj/komisja-etyki-ds-badan-naukowych/komisja-etyki-ds-badan-naukowych

I confirm that all necessary patient/participant consent has been obtained and the appropriate institutional forms have been archived, and that any patient/participant/sample identifiers included were not known to anyone (e.g., hospital staff, patients or participants themselves) outside the research group so cannot be used to identify individuals.

Yes

I understand that all clinical trials and any other prospective interventional studies must be registered with an ICMJE-approved registry, such as ClinicalTrials.gov. I confirm that any such study reported in the manuscript has been registered and the trial registration ID is provided (note: if posting a prospective study registered retrospectively, please provide a statement in the trial ID field explaining why the study was not registered in advance).

Yes

I have followed all appropriate research reporting guidelines, such as any relevant EQUATOR Network research reporting checklist(s) and other pertinent material, if applicable.

Yes

Data cannot be shared publicly because of conditions of the consent between researchers and the interviewees. Data are available from the Collegium Civitas Institutional Data Access / Ethics Committee (contact via mnowicka@civitas.edu.pl) for researchers who meet the criteria for access to confidential data.