The ending year leaves us with thousands of stories of fleeing the war in Ukraine. Stories that are also of arrival in other countries, like Spain, painting a real-time picture of our capacity for unity as a host society. Our project United for Ukraine is a clear thermometer of this process.
A sixty-year-old woman looks at a sunny room, her grandson gripping her hand tightly. Her daughter leans a suitcase against one of the two beds that take up almost the entire space. Mother and daughter exchange a look of resignation, “we have to sleep here, the three of us together.” Another, younger woman enters, of a very different appearance from theirs, speaks to them energetically while opening the curtains. The boy clings even tighter to his grandmother, she looks for a second out the window at the city skyline, which she wouldn’t know how to place on a map. Then she fixes her gaze on the other woman’s speech, whose words she doesn’t understand. “It’ll be just a few days,” she tells herself, “the space is tight, but at least we won’t be cold, winter here seems milder. With luck we’ll be back home by spring.”
This is how many arrival stories of Ukrainian refugees begin who, although they receive care from the International Protection Program that covers their basic needs (food, shelter, schooling for minors), need longer-term support; because fleeing violence and devastation, they may encounter a problem no less pressing: social exclusion in host countries.
That’s why, when the war broke out, our international structure created a fund called United For Ukraine, where the public can donate to support the activities carried out by local United Way organizations in countries bordering Ukraine and in those, like Spain, that receive refugees. All these donations come from private individuals in the United States who wanted to lend a hand to help the Ukrainian population.
Mencía Igartua, program coordinator at Fundación United Way España, leads the activities designed thanks to United For Ukraine in our country: “Our great asset in situations like this is, once again, the alliance; we’ve established synergies with three major entities, CONVIVE Fundación Cepaim, Cruz Roja Española and YMCA, with whom we’ve designed a program of actions aimed at the inclusion of Ukrainian refugees. The program acts as a complement, trying to reach where state aid doesn’t, based on our three basic pillars: HEALTH, with psychological care and mutual emotional support through guided groups where they can connect with other Ukrainians who have gone through the process of adapting to a new society and culture; EDUCATION, with the teaching of Spanish (for both adults and minors) and educational support, which form the basis that sustains integration; and EMPLOYABILITY, because emotional healing must be accompanied by a future outlook in which work plays a major role, which is why we support employment with help preparing CVs, finding training, preparing for interviews, etc.”
But the program doesn’t end there; seeing that the war may last much longer than expected, United For Ukraine also includes medium- and long-term initiatives, such as a communication campaign and a series of workshops to foster access to housing once refugees have stabilized their situation and can afford rent. The campaign is also aimed at the Spanish population, to break down stereotypes against refugees.
So, people like that woman arriving at a shelter with her daughter and grandson understand that they can learn a language and become independent while getting to know the city that welcomes them. And that her grandson can go to school and not have his educational path interrupted. And that the boy’s mother can work and access housing that she pays for on her own. In short, that these people can normalize their situation for as long as the war lasts.
According to Mencía Igartua, in addition to addressing these issues, United For Ukraine is proving to be a great opportunity to “build a culture” of collaboration among entities: “In the United States the organization is far ahead, more than a hundred years, to be precise. There are still many people in Spain who don’t know us. But we’re moving forward quickly, little by little social entities are understanding our work of driving, of global vision. In fact, they now come to us asking for help coordinating programs, because they no longer see us as a mere funder, they know we do design and coordination work that translates into resource optimization, which always benefits the people we serve.” This global vision and unifying strength was already recognized in 2020 with an award from the Spanish Association of Foundations for our project Ayuda a los que ayudan (Help those who help), to mitigate the effects of the pandemic.
Each of these hard blows of current events leaves us a great lesson, helps us hone this mechanism of joint work that gives meaning to our organization and that we’re certain strengthens the Third Sector.
“United For Ukraine will remain active at least until summer 2023. We’ll keep refining our collaboration mechanism, taking note of what refugees need and strengthening our synergies with Cepaim, Cruz Roja and YMCA,” concludes Mencía Igartua.
We’ll keep taking the opportunity to gather forces around the unavoidable purpose of helping those who need it most.