Ukrainian House
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Overview of the Ukrainian House’s Activities
Consultation Point and Hotline:
A trusted source for reliable information for Ukrainians building their lives in Poland. Every day, dozens of Ukrainians in Poland contact our consultation point and hotline for guidance on legal, professional, and daily life challenges. Our consultants provide personalized support in legalizing residence, dealing with the welfare system, and accessing education and health services.
The consultation point also offers individual assistance, for example providing translation services on visits to doctors or other public institutions. Cases requiring professional legal advice are referred to lawyers offering pro-bono consultations in house at the Consultation Point.
Family assistance team:
The Ukrainian House’s case workers offer in-depth support to those in the most dramatic situations or with complex needs. The case workers deploy a specially developed methodology that starts by supporting those in dramatic situations to identify the challenges they face and the resources they have and need to resolve them. On this basis, case workers and beneficiaries together develop a plan of action which they work step-by-step to fulfil. This long-term individually tailored support enables those in crisis to rebuild a sense of agency.
Support in the Mazovia Region:
The Ukrainian House runs a program incubating the initiatives of local Ukrainian community leaders in towns in the Mazovia region around Warsaw. Through a long term approach to grassroots local support, we are able to provide targeted assistance to those in most need in smaller towns in Mazovia, and support local Ukrainian leaders in developing support activities within their communities.
Ukrainian Women’s Clubs:
5 Ukrainian Women’s Clubs meet weekly in safe spaces to develop networks of mutual support amongst refugee women. The programs of activities are deliberately diverse, empowering women through entrepreneurship workshops, artistic activities, sports activities and psychological support. The Ukrainian Women’s Clubs function as holistic spaces strengthening the bonds between Ukrainian women in displacement and enabling personal transformation.
Education:
We run the face-to-face Warsaw Ukrainian school, SzkoUA, which has developed a pioneering curriculum enabling pupils to receive school certificates in both the Polish and Ukrainian education systems. We also run 3 Ukrainian Saturday schools where children can continue their education in Ukrainian language and culture, while studying in Polish schools.
Housing Team:
The housing team provides consultation and support for Ukrainians in finding accommodation, and emergency housing for those with urgent needs. In the first years after the full scale invasion, our team connected refugees with hosts willing to offer accommodation through a solidarity housing model. The team thus provided thousands with the shelter needed to take the first steps in rebuilding their lives.
Psychological Support:
The Ukrainian House provides short-term psychological support through consultations with specialist Ukrainian language psychologists. We also run a psychological support group and sessions supporting collective well-being.
The Labour Activisation Team:
The Ukrainian House supports Ukrainians in gaining access to the Polish labour market, in finding work in line with their qualifications and in defending their workers rights. We organize vocational courses, assist with crafting CVs, provide labor law training, and guide job seekers into their first roles in Poland.
Advocacy:
The Ukrainian House presents issues of concern for Ukrainians in Poland and argues for their rights on a variety of national and international fora. We comment on proposals of reforms of laws affecting Ukrainians, and participate in parliamentary hearings and ministerial working groups. We are active with the KOMM and Consorcjum networks of minority and migrant organisations in Poland, and conduct research on the changing situation of Ukrainians in Poland.
Information Portal:
The Ukrainian House organises the work of the informational portal “Naszwybir.pl” providing information and analysis on issues of relevance to Ukrainians in Poland. Topics covered range from advice on everyday life matters in Poland, recommendations about cultural events to analysis of current hot topics in Polish-Ukrainian relations. The portal also hosts an events platform, providing information about events catering for Ukrainians in Poland. The portal is thus a trusted source of information for Ukrainians in Poland in the context of a highly charged information landscape.
Polish Language Courses:
The Ukrainian House’s team of specialist Polish language teachers provide high quality free courses at a range of different levels of knowledge. These courses, which remain in very high demand, serve as vital steps towards integration, employment, and building relationships. These language courses are supplemented by conversation clubs in languages such as Polish, English, Ukrainian and German.
Activities for Children:
The Ukrainian House provides a wide array of activities for refugee youngsters including: artistic workshops, workshops on digital security, meetings providing information on higher education and urban camps on which children explore city institutions and how they work. We also organise summer holiday camps: these constitute safe, joyful spaces for youngsters in need to experience a semblance of childhood amid uncertainty. Last year we also awarded 15 Scholarships for Ukrainian Youth: these were designed to enable promising refugee students to continue their education to further develop their passions in sports, science or the arts.
Cultural and Community Program:
The Ukrainian House organises a wide program of cultural events and discussions, including meetings with artists, writers and film-makers, a film club, and the “Galeria Dim” art gallery. We also organise integrational clubs, such as English speaking club, a board game club, a literary club and a psychological support group “Friends”. The Ukrainian House also accommodates a Ukrainian language library. In addition, we organise community events on ceremonial occasions (such as Christmas, Easter or Ukrainian Independence Day) in public spaces in Warsaw.
Read the story about Olena, whom we help
„It was 5 a.m. on February 24, 2022. The explosions woke us up.”
So begins Olena’s story.
On the day Russia invaded Ukraine, she was scheduled for life-saving cancer surgery. When the bombs fell, there was no more time. She fled on foot, carrying only medication and a handwritten diagnosis. In Poland, doctors saved her life, but the war had taken her health, her home, her sense of future.
Then she found the Ukrainian House.
She learned Polish. Completed a medical terminology course. Earned a certificate.
Today, she volunteers at Polish hospitals, helping doctors communicate with Ukrainian patients.
„It was like a dream come true. I stopped relying on Google Translate. Now I understand. That course gave me hope. I feel like I can do anything again.”
Olena is just one of over 160,000 people who’ve received support from the Ukrainian House.
For them, this place is not just a center—it’s a second home, a new beginning.
