Social-psychological rehabilitation for children of defenders who are captive, considered missing

NGO "World Youth Community - Zhytomyr"

Our goal: promoting the formation of inner resilience in children who found themselves in circumstances they didn't choose.

Working with a wide range of children, we saw a major problem that little attention is paid specifically to children of defenders who went missing or are in captivity.

Imagine a child who looks at their phone every evening and waits for a message from dad. But the message doesn't come... because dad disappeared. At one of the camps, a sixteen-year-old boy said he doesn't know how to live now because all his dreams and ideas about the future are broken - this is one tragedy - a life, and there are many such children in Zhytomyr region. These are words of a child.

Not an adult. A child who has already lost their support.

These children cannot "outgrow" this pain. They cannot "get distracted". They cannot "just not think". This pain lives with them every day. And if it's not lived through — it will stay with them for years.

This is pain that touches us, that's why we strive to help as many such children as possible.

Psychological support helps a child break out of the vicious circle of pain. They cannot do this themselves - they need strong adults.

1040 children have already received help in 2022-2026. According to feedback from children and parents, the program is effective and results-oriented.

About 90 volunteers were involved in conducting events.

We continue to support 30 families on a permanent basis.

Main activities of NGO "WYC - Zhytomyr"

1. Social-psychological support camps for military families.

2. Trainings.

3. Mentoring (Individual and Corporate)

4. Volunteering

5. Day center for social-psychological work "Better Future" - under construction.

We are a team of qualified specialists: psychologists, psychological support trainers under programs "Children and War", "Life Lessons", "Mentoring", "Club of Healed Hearts", "Growth of Heroes".

Now we want to build a community of caring people who will share our mission and support the project. Thanks to such support, we can plan camps, meetings, trips and work without breaks.

The community gives us not only resources, but also feedback, trust and confidence in development — thanks to this we can help more children and do it better.

We are launching a fundraiser for conducting psychological-rehabilitation camp "Better Future" from July 20-27 in Yablunytsia village for children of heroes who went missing or are in captivity. The raised funds will be directed to pay for accommodation and meals for participants.

Sometimes one timely support — changes a whole life.

You can become part of this.

Every help — is not just a contribution.

It's a chance for a defender's child to smile again.