Updates From Our Team At The Palac

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Against the backdrop of the ongoing Russian Invasion, our needs as an organization continue to expand to meet the growing needs of our growing children. What we hoped would be a temporary displacement for the children has turned into a full relocation without certainty of a predictable end. The troubling news that the children’s home in Zaporizhzhia was critically damaged during a Russian bombing in November 2022 only furthers clouds the future. Despite the intimidating backdrop, we work tirelessly to protect these children’s childhoods while ensuring their educational and individual development. Notably, all children remain enrolled in school as we continue to work with the local system to find the appropriate home to educate our children. In total, we now have 38 children in traditional Primary School in addition to 5 children receiving additional care at the Special School in Damnica (OSW Damnica). Further, 10 of the older children are now pursuing post-primary education (6 in Vocational School, 4 children in the CECH Lębork course system).

Despite the amazing efforts, we must not lose track of the evolving needs of these children. Many of the younger children come from difficult, broken families and continue to exhibit overactivity and trouble assimilating to social norms. Meanwhile, the older children are forced to shoulder a significant burden caring for the younger children while trying to make sense of the Russian cruelty themselves. Naturally, this invites the anticipated drama one would expect when teenagers are tasked with childrearing duties during their own rebellious years. To ameliorate the situation, we have worked within the local infrastructure to seek counselling and special accommodations for as many of the children as possible. We have received 20 referrals for children in need of further mental help; however, the lack of public resources continues to plague our progress as language barriers and citizenship issues limit our access to psychiatric professionals to execute on the referrals. Without our own additional funding, we fear that many of the children will not receive the consistent help required for them to mature past their childhood traumas.

The need for more funding for mental health provides just a glimpse into the issues that we deal with every day. We incur similar difficulties across key pediatric health areas including notable dental in which we can only fund the growing need for dental work with our own funds.

Ultimately, we do not want to leave our supporters with a sense that we have not fundamentally impacted these children’s lives. Not only has the organization provided a calming presence and persistent home for the children but also the ability to reinject joy into their lives.

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Over the past several months donations (and local volunteers) have enabled children to engage in a variety of enrichment activities:

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• Sociotherapy, Music and art therapy

• Addiction prevention

• Financial management - introduction to self-empowerment

• Dog therapy

• Hippotherapy

• karate

• Workshops

• Classes at the gym and Classes at the MMA sports club

• Compensatory classes in Polish language and mathematics

• Group and individual therapy sessions

• Private visits to an ophthalmologist, the Department of Child Psychiatry and other specialists

• Private dental treatment - a contract concluded for treatment until the funds are exhausted (unfortunately, there are not many of them and it will not be enough for the necessary comprehensive treatment)

• Transportation of children to secondary school,

• Participation in several local events near the Palac: Magic Mikołajki in Primary School in Potęgowo, Orthodox Christmas in GOK in Potęgowo, Music Women's Day in GOK in Potęgowo Polish-Ukrainian Friendship Holidays, winter holidays for children, Cultural Carnival  with cooperation with the Shakespeare Theater in Gdańsk

Nevertheless, we still have the ongoing need for many of the basics:

• Employment of additional staff to care for children - a team of therapists and psychologists working with children clearly stated that without providing children with the appropriate standard of care, based on the real needs and specificity of the functioning of our charges, all actions taken and implemented for a year will not achieve the expected results .

• Maintaining the financing of therapeutic, psychological and all other activities currently carried out until the end of June from the "Pomorskie z Ukrainą" project, which will end and do not provide for subsequent editions for the same participants - the classes are a pillar of the sense of security and education of proper development of children who subjected to many past traumas, they require any occupational therapy intervention

• Creation of a therapeutic day room with full equipment and specialists.

• Financing necessary treatment (medical and therapeutic)

• Financing the transport of children and youth - high school, apprenticeships, shopping, etc.

• Financing the process of becoming independent of the oldest charges reaching the age of majority.

• cover costs of gas (f. ex.: we bring children to secondary schools every day by our car)

• Renovation of the playground and outdoor gym

• Fieldtrips & free time activities (trips, swimming pool, zoo etc. and some activities like sports, dance etc.)

Thank you all for continuing to remain mindful of the importance of the work at the Palac. We would just like to restate the immense appreciation that we have for our existing supporters, and we hope for your continued support going forward. End of the day, the work we are doing here in Poland is invaluable in preserving and developing Ukraine’s most vulnerable and valuable resource—their next generation— during their most difficult hour to ensure they have bright future ahead.