Spilno

“Together. Meeting points” is a project of the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the NGO “Ukrainian Professional Development”.

Within the framework of the project, points were created in different cities of Ukraine where you can get basic humanitarian assistance, socio-emotional support, access to individual and group psychological counseling, elective classes from the school curriculum, etc.

From the first weeks of the war, points appeared at all metro stations and in bomb shelters in Kharkiv. Over time, points were opened in Poltava, Kremenchuk, Kropyvnytskyi, Svetlovodsk, Cherkassy, Uman, Akhtyrka, Chernihiv, Zaporizhzhia. At the end of 2022 — beginning of 2023, the points also worked in a number of settlements of Kharkiv region: Izyum, Balakliya, Valky, Krasnokutsk, Pervomaisky, Krasnohrad, Zmiev, Lozova, Kharkiv.

During the year and a half of the project for children and adolescents, volunteers and specialists of various profiles held more than 15,258 events, of which more than 2000 — in the Kharkiv metro. These are classes from the school curriculum, art therapy, emotional unloading, psychological counseling, activities on mine-explosive and chemical safety, home care, classes on mastering life skills.

RESULTS

159,980

participants/c

15,258

activities

100 tons

humanitarian aid

1926

trained volunteers and educators

49th

points for children, adolescents and their families

Carried out career guidance games Kids2it together with Kharkiv IT Cluster

Organized Career Guidance Weeks for Teenagers

In partnership with Salesforce, Advanced Communities and NIX Solutions have created portalfor parents and children

Conducted preparatory courses for school and Summer School in elementary mathematics EMSS 2022

4th grader Misha learns and is engaged in creativity
together with the volunteers of the project in one
from the bomb shelters of Kharkov

16-year-old Alisa Mikheeva from Okhtyrka, a volunteer of the project, received an award from UNICEF. Alice congratulated
First Lady of Ukraine Elena Zelenska

The first classes on art therapy in the Kharkov metro,
where children with families hide
from bombing

Teacher and volunteer Oksana Gavshina
teaches mathematics to schoolchildren
who lived in the subway for 2.5 months

The play
from the puppet theater
in the Kharkov subway

Opening of meeting points in Chernihiv. Here they pass
classes for children and adolescents
who were affected by the war

After the liberation of Kharkiv region, they opened “Together.
Meeting point” in Saltovka — the area that is the largest
suffered from shelling in the first months of the war

Pereselenka Tetiana
with two sons visiting
meeting points in Uman

Escape room “Safe childhood”
for Children's Day
in deocopied Balaklia

Tatiana, a migrant from Nikolaev, participant of the project

When we left Nikolaev, the children had a lot of stress. Especially with the eldest son. He covered his ears with any loud sounds, hid under the table. And after the events at the “Together” points, the child blossomed before his eyes, calmed down, fear disappeared. Also, trained psychologists who studied with Israeli specialists and have been studying post-traumatic, military psychology for many years worked with them. These techniques have had a great impact on children and it has been seen that they calm down.

Everyone in “Together” was treated as members of a large family. You will always be understood there, you can cry there, express yourself.

Vlada, volunteer of meeting points “Together” in Uman, IDP

In Uman, I was looking for where I could help as a psychologist. I learned that the project “Together” operates in the city. Meeting points” and started volunteering here. In the project, I really like that I can work with teenagers again. I like that there is a very strong team of proactive and caring people here. 

To help teenagers on the point, we have created a communication hub for them. From week to week, it is very clearly visible when adolescents come boldly and reveal themselves, trust, share their experiences and emotions. It helps them overcome the hardships and horrors of war.

Alyona, volunteer of the project

I felt the need to help. It is very difficult for me to sit and do nothing at a time when there are so many people around who need support. Especially since I had experience working as a child psychologist. I saw the results of my work well when I volunteered at points in Kremenchug. There were children who at first did not speak at all, and then started. There were children who could not be left without their mother, and over time they calmly stayed in classes.  

In Kharkov, work with children and adolescents was different. There were times when I thought that the child had a difficult character and even aggressive behavior. It was necessary to invest a lot of effort and resources in such children. And then suddenly they are imbued with trust, treat you like a friend, come to class and ask to stay longer. For me, this is an indicator that children are comfortable and this is thanks to the work of meeting points.

Natalia, 16 years old, a visitor to meeting points in Zaporozhye

At the meeting point, I went to career guidance weeks, where I discovered a lot of interesting things and took another step towards understanding who I wanted to be. Here I met with representatives of different professions and was able to ask everything I wanted to know about each of them.

Maria, mother of one of the project participants

My son is 6 years old. When he returned home after the sunset at the “Together” point, he said it was the best day of his life. Thank you for giving children such impressions and holidays at this difficult time.

Oksana, mother of one of the project participants

Now children are deprived of the opportunity to fully study and be in the team. Your organization provides such an opportunity, for this I thank you very much! The child is satisfied and can attend various activities that not only develop, but also allow emotional unloading.

Tatiana Velichko, psychologist, m. Poltava

The project to support psychologists was the best of all in which I participated. Very good organization, experienced coaches and supervisors were selected. Such projects are very necessary now for psychologists, because the subject of client appeals has changed a lot, psychologists constantly need educational support, updating knowledge and skills.

In addition, psychologists very often have their own experiences, anxieties, constant stress. Personally, I have a brother who protects us and I worry about him all the time. Therefore, the project of support of psychologists helped me a lot, I gained new knowledge, experience, was among like-minded colleagues, which was very inspiring and empowering in this difficult time.

Julia Tikhonova, psychologist, m. Pidhorodne, Dnipropetrovsk region

In the project to support psychologists, I received not only unique techniques, but also supervisionary support, which Ukrainian crisis specialists lack so much. Thanks to my studies, I organized psychological support groups for adolescents, which until now had no analogues in our Pidhorodne community. Children come to me with their stories, fears and questions.

After that, as part of the project, I took an additional course on working with people who had returned from the war. At that time, I talked a lot with the military and their families, and the course became part of the puzzle that I needed. I gained skills in dealing with trauma, mastered protocols and techniques of support, understood how to bypass trigger topics, track the reactions of my client. Using the knowledge gained, I ventured into a new project to organize psychological support groups for families of servicemen. Sincerely grateful to everyone who made efforts to organize the course, because you not only teach, but inspire, support, motivate to go further in your profession.

Irina Khanenko, psychologist, Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Moscow Kyiv

Throughout my professional path, I am constantly evolving and have different work experiences. I worked as a psychologist in the police, and now I advise the military and victims of war.

With the full-scale war, there was a great deal of inquiry and work with people who had experienced serious psychological upheavals. And with so many requests, you forget to find the time and opportunities for your own recovery. A project to support psychologists gave me that.

The project involves specialists who have tremendous psychotherapeutic experience and to whom it is an honor to get to study. Thanks to them, I gained practical knowledge to help victims of war, passed supervisions and consultations and generally opened new horizons in professional development.

By the way, many participants changed their place of work after the project, including myself. Because every experience in the trainings helped us to better understand our own values and professional skills.

Svetlana Veselkova, psychologist, m. Zaporozhye

I am not only a psychologist, I am from temporarily occupied Donetsk, and I personally know what the people I work with feel. Therefore, this project, which provides participants with so much practical material, is very valuable and helpful during the war period.

Working in kindergarten, I have the opportunity to immediately apply the knowledge taught by the project coaches. And the constant support of experts, professional supervisors helps to remember how important it is to find time for your emotional and psychological recovery.