Together for orphans from Ukraine's war action

UPDATE, February, 23

One year on from the outbreak of war - what next for Ukrainian children from orphanages?

When war broke out, there was not a moment to lose. What mattered was the speed of the reaction. In fact, the first hours after the outbreak of war were the most important. It was then that the key decisions were made about helping children from Ukrainian orphanages.

The Mobile Medical Team we set up arrived at all the centres in Poland where the children had found refuge. Each child received dental and ophthalmic care, as well as help from a psychologist or therapist. We organised educational workshops for the children and donated the necessary learning equipment. We conducted first aid training for staff at the centres. We equipped one of the centres where children with disabilities are housed with AED equipment,
essential for saving life and health. We provided children and their carers with autumn and winter clothing and footwear.

In addition to the activities carried out in Poland related to helping children who have found refuge from war in our country, the Foundation has also been involved in organising aid directly at the site of the conflict. To date, more than half a thousand pallets with the most necessary items, i.e. medicines or warm clothes, have been sent to Ukraine. We have also thoroughly renovated old buildings, which have been adapted into shelters for mothers with children and elderly people fleeing the war. In total, we have created more than 1,000 safe places, located in areas of eastern Ukraine not covered by armed hostilities.

Renovation work was carried out on, among others, the Psychological and Neurological Sanatorium in Jezupol, the Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Centre for Mothers with Children at the Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Centre in Kolomyia. We also carried out a major renovation of the floor of the palliative ward of an orphanage in the town of Nadvirna. In total, we have adapted 10 buildings to house IDPs.

Ukraine started the process of deinstitutionalisation of foster care a few years ago, i.e. the elimination of traditional large orphanages in favour of a family form of care. Unfortunately, this process was completely halted due to the outbreak of war. - This resulted in,that Ukraine has gone backwards in terms of deinstitutionalisation of foster care. Being in contact with all the regional authorities from which the children came, the subject of a return to this process was raised. At a recent joint conference between the Foundation and representatives of the Ukrainian authorities, there were declarations from Ukrainian social services to resume these processes says Aleksander Kartasiński.

The changes in question should take place in accordance with European standards - this is one of the conditions set by the European Union for Ukraine's accession. - We have offered to cooperate in this regard. The Foundation is an organisation that has been active in European integration for many years, which guarantees that we know how to do this and that we have
the right tools to do it. It is important to remember that this is a challenge for years. At the same time, we also want Ukrainian children from orphanages who are currently in Poland to be subjected to this process. We are starting a training programme for candidates for foster parents who would run family children's homes in their home country in the future. We are committed to lasting change.

Now that the date of the children's return is in great doubt, the decision to split up the evacuated groups can no longer be postponed. We are pleased that in this respect, we were able to reach a common position with the Ukrainian side and take concrete action as soon as the decision was made. We divided the first groups at the end of December, says Aleksander Kartasinski.

In two orphanages in Łódź, children from several Ukrainian institutions found shelter at the beginning of the war. At present, each group lives in a separate house and the number of children in them varies from 12 to 16. The children and their carers have been placed in single-family homes, so as to provide evacuees with conditions as close to home as possible. This solution is close to what we do on a daily basis, i.e. running family orphanages for Polish
children.

Thanks to the support of our donors - Friends - we are able to help financially the centres which have taken in children from Ukraine. We support our little friends in, among other things, continuing psychological therapies, psychiatric treatment, ophthalmological treatment (including fitting children with visual impairments with glasses) or dental treatment. We want to give them a chance for a good childhood despite the traumas they have experienced, which is why we continue our mission in line with Janusz Korczak's motto: Without a happy childhood, all life is crippled

We want to continue to help the most vulnerable victims of the war in Ukraine - children from Ukrainian orphanages, who have already been disadvantaged once. Support our work and save them together with us.

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UPDATE June, 1

We are not stopping in supporting Ukraine!

Dear Friends, thank you for all the contributions so far, thanks to which we can bring aid to our eastern neighbors! Creating a shelter in Ukraine for more than 1,000 Ukrainian civilians, mainly orphans from the areas where military operations are currently taking place is another mission the Happy Kids Foundation - in parallel with the organized aid for 1,500 Ukrainian children from
orphanages evacuated to Poland at the beginning of the war.

The eastern part of Ukraine - this is where we are dealing with the largest outbreak of fighting, and it is from there that civilians, including hundreds of children from orphanages, among others, continue to flee to the western areas of the country. With the aim of saving the lives and fate of the most vulnerable victims of the war, the Happy Kids Foundation has decided to adapt buildings for toddlers, as well as all those who need a safe asylum. The total is 1010 places. The organization, under the leadership of President Alexander Kartasinski, has already begun renovations, and the first centers are ready to receive residents.

-„Since the outbreak of the war, I have been to our eastern border more than a dozen times, including to select buildings for renovation together with the regional authorities of Ukraine. The selected properties are located in areas not covered by the war, that is, where the rockets have not reached. We are talking about the western part of Ukraine - villages and mountainous areas. Away from military and strategic hubs that could be attacked. The regions in question include Chernivtsi, Zakarpattia and Ivano-Frankivsk regions. "This is where we have already started placing children from orphanages, but also mothers and senior citizens fleeing from the eastern part of Ukraine" says Alexander Kartasinski, President of the Happy Kids Foundation.

The Happy Kids Foundation, in consultation with the Ukrainian authorities and with the support of the local community, is restoring dilapidated facilities that even before the war needed to be brought up to proper standards. – „In many of these places, the bathrooms are unusable. They are damaged by the passage of time. Partitions between showers are missing, or there are no showers at all. Therefore, it happens that we create sanitary hubs. There are also places like Kolomyja, for example, where we also have to repair the damaged roof. Our tasks also include retrofitting these facilities with the necessary everyday equipment," explains Alexander Kartasinski. In early July, the Happy Kids Foundation organized the first shipment of 29 pallets of furniture, bedding, mattresses, hygiene products and household appliances. The equipment went to centers located in the Ivano-Frankivsk region.

So far, three buildings have been renovated. The first is the Psychological and Neurological Sanatorium in Jezupol (Ivano-Frankivsk region) for preschool and school-age children. The second - a Social Welfare Center in Tłumacz for mothers with children. While the third is the Social Welfare and Rehabilitation Center in Kolomyia).

There are also places like Hulajpole (now bombed), where a house has to be built from scratch. Restoration work has begun in the cities of: Nadwórna, Vitvitsa or Vynohradiv. The cost of adapting more than 1,000 places is €1 million, but the Foundation plans to renovate more buildings for Ukrainian orphans as well, which of course involves even more money.

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UPDATE May 11

Fundacja Happy Kids is a leading Polish non-governmental organization, founded in 2001 to provide a chance for a happy childhood for children in Polish orphanages with little to no chances for adoption.  It has created 17 family-type foster homes and provides professional foster care, child protection, medical and psychological support to children with psychological trauma, intellectual and physical disabilities, and reunites previously separated groups of siblings in one home.   

Since the Russian invasion, Happy Kids assisted Ukrainian authorities in emergency evacuations of children from state orphanages and their caregivers to Poland. Starting as early as February 28th, in cooperation with the city of Łódź and local and international partners, Happy Kids has assisted in evacuation of approximately 2,000 civilians including 1,500 children and guardians from foster care institutions from Kharkiv, Kherson, Lviv, Kiev, Odessa, Poltava, Zhytomyr.

The youngest survivor was 7 days-old when crossing the border. The evacuation were conducted in close cooperation with the Department of the Protection of Children’s Rights and Adoption of the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine and Polish authorities, and UN Global Compact Network Poland. 

Thanks to the generous support of our donors, we were able to:  assist orphanages, foster families or other forms of foster care, which require immediate evacuation from Ukrainian territory affected by war, provide support in transportation to the border between Poland and Ukraine,  assist the evacuated children at the border crossings work with local governments to secure and prepare accommodations ready to meet the needs of the evacuated groups.  

Now that the children and their care-givers have managed to flee the horrors of war, we focus on providing them with an environment, where they can feel safe, happy and at home. We assist in the following areas: infrastructure and furnishing, food security nutrition, equipment and supplies, direct cash transfers, health care, psychological support and educational support. A significant proportion of children suffers not only from psychological trauma, but from physical or intellectual disabilities. Our continued support, whether a hearing device, specialised therapy, a Polish-language tutor or simply a new bed, would not be possible without your help.  

Please consider joining us in providing safety in Poland for most vulnerable Ukrainian children until they will be able to safely return home

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In the interest of preserving the life and health of children, in the face of the ongoing war in Ukraine, The Children’s Aid ‘Happy Kids’ Foundation, in cooperation with the City of Łódź, has launched an action to save the most vulnerable victims: children from orphanages and foster care.

The evacuation of orphans from orphanages, foster families and other forms of care from Ukraine to Poland, is coordinated by Aleksander Kartasiński – the President of the ‘Happy Kids’ Foundation and Social Plenipotentiary of the Mayor of the City of Łódź, Hanna Zdanowska, for contacts with Ukrainian authorities on the organization of care for Ukrainian children in Łódź. The ‘Happy Kids’ Foundation is carrying out the evacuation of young refugees in close cooperation with the Department of the Protection of Children's Rights and Adoption of the Ministry of Social Policy of Ukraine and the Ministry of Family and Social Policy of the Republic of Poland. Our organization, together with the City of Łódź, coordinates the relocation of refugees throughout the country in agreement with local government units.

Since the beginning of the war, we have already saved thousands of children (including those with dysfunctions and disabilities) together with their guardians: incl. from Kharkiv, Kherson, Lviv, Kiev, Odessa, Poltava, Volyn, Zhytomyr. The youngest survivors were not even one year old. It is still a drop in the ocean of needs. The situation of children in orphanages and foster care in Ukraine is exceptionally critical.

The intensity of military operations and the cruelty of the Russian aggressor against Ukrainian civilians make our actions focus on saving as many children as possible - in the shortest possible time. At the same time, we are also acquiring places that meet decent housing conditions, adapted to the needs of the evacuated groups of children.

They find a safe haven and care in the Family Orphanages of the ‘Happy Kids’ Foundation, foster families, orphanages in Łódź and other local governments from all over Poland that offer help.

The donations will be allocated for both the immediate needs - transport, food, cleaning products, clothes – and the long-term activities aimed at comprehensive care for war victims, including specialist medical treatment, psychological therapy or legal care.

Let’s save the lives in need together.

We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for every kind of support.