Ukraine Rehabilitation and
Resilience Program
Our Projects
Resilience Centers
Chosen by the Ukrainian government, NATAN created Resilience Centers to serve local populations and Internally Displaced Persons.
Training Frontline Caregivers
NATAN psychosocial experts equip local caregiving professionals with the tools necessary to promote personal and community resilience.
Respite for Ukrainian Children
NATAN social workers support TaSho, a boarding school created by a NATAN member as a safe haven for Ukrainian refugee children.
Scroll down to read more about our work in Ukraine.
Establishing Resilience Centers inside Ukraine
NATAN has been chosen by the Ukraine government to create a group of innovative Resilience Centers inside Ukraine. These centers will serve local populations as well as Internally Displaced Persons. The Centers will adapt the Israeli model of psychological first aid. This project is led by Olena Zelenska, the First Lady of Ukraine.
Seen here, a schoolteacher receives feedback following a resilience exercise with her class in Yaroviv, Ukraine.
Graduates of March 2023 Train the Trainer Session presented by NATAN and partners Folkowisko Foundation, in Cieszanow, Poland.
It is very important for each of us here in Ukraine to feel the support of caring and kind people. I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude for the invaluable assistance you provide to the people of Ukraine. Your unwavering support and dedication have made a significant difference in the lives of Ukrainians. Through your initiatives, you have extended a helping hand to those in need, offering them hope and relief during challenging times. So, I want to convey my deepest appreciation for your generosity, compassion, and tireless efforts. Your team is really great. Your support has instilled a sense of hope , reminding us that there are compassionate souls like yours who genuinely care about our well-being. We are profoundly grateful for all that you do.
- Zoriana Ruda
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Training Frontline Caregivers
On the ground in Ukraine now: NATAN psychosocial experts have just completed training Ukrainian frontline caregivers on Mental Fitness in an ongoing program started in July 2022. Following the formal classroom training, the NATAN experts accompanied the trainees back to their own towns in Ukraine, where the trainers observed and aided in the use of the techniques as they are actually implemented in the field.
The project started in cooperation between Folkowisko Foundation, NATAN, and the Cieszanow municipality in Poland. It combined academic and practical workshops to provide tools to help “refugees in motion". The participants - consisting of social workers, psychologists, and caregivers - come from the region between Lviv and the Polish border.
During the summer of 2022 and February and March of 2023, NATAN hosted several rounds of training, which were attended by 60 Ukrainian helping professionals from municipalities of Lviv and Yavoriv.
The series of trainings were held as "train the trainer" sessions, developed to equip professionals with the tools necessary to promote personal and community resilience. With each round of the training the participants were lifted to the next level of understanding and practical skills necessary to navigate the complex reality of war.
NATAN Trainers seen in the photos: NATAN's Head of Psychosocial Aid, Dr. Eitan Shahar; Social Workers: Ola Stepchenko, Natasha Grudsky and Noam Goshen. The academic curriculum was led by Dr. Moshe Farchi, developer of the Six C's Model for Psychological First Aid:
Respite for Ukrainian Children
TaSho Project, Romania – March 2023 TaSho is a unique type of boarding school created as a safe haven for Ukrainian refugee children housed in the Pensiunea Anima hotel in Baia Mare, Romania. The children live and study on site. Some of them have lost one or both parents in the war. Others have been sent to TaSho by their families as the fathers are at war and the mothers cannot leave Ukraine. Founded by NATAN member Ievgeny Miroshnychenko, the TaSho school and residence provides displaced Ukrainian youth the opportunity to continue their education – either remotely or with Ukrainian teachers on site – and learn the psychosocial skills that will strengthen their resilience in the face of wartime trauma and family separation. A team of NATAN social workers is now on site at TaSho, training educators and leading resilience activities with the youth there.
Summer Camps for Ukrainian Children
July 2022
Camp programming included English language summer school, staffed by volunteer teachers from the USA, as well as games, sports and other activities led by volunteer counselors from Hashomer Hatzair world youth movement, long-standing partners of NATAN. Campers included 30 Ukrainian teens and 30 Polish teens, providing an opportunity for cultural exchange and learning. The camp was ran by NATAN together with partners, Folkowisko Foundation, Hashomer Hatzair, the Kosciuszko Foundation (USA); and AFT (American Federation of Teachers).
August 2022
NATAN and our partner, Folkowisko Foundation, are hosted a special training program for frontline caregivers who work with people displaced by the war in Ukraine. While the caregivers received training, their children enjoyed summer camp activities.
Community Support
February 2023
The participants were invited back to a third advanced round of the program which was held with the support from World Health Organization.
The trainings included two main groups. The first group of psychologists and psychosocial specialists delved into topics of helping children to be cope under conditions of continued war, psychotherapeutic methods of working with families and providing family support with the focus on children’s well-being.
The second group consisted of teachers who learned how to build an emotionally safe system as part of the education system during times of war, and focused on provide mental support for displaced persons and children with special needs.
A special session on request from WHO was held on sexual violence in the time of war. The participants learned how to recognize potential survivors of sexual assault and give them help through the appropriate support systems.
A welcoming session for both groups - clinicians and teachers participating in round 3 of the trainings
A welcoming session for both groups - clinicians and teachers participating in round 3 of the trainings. Session on resilience
Support the supporters. A group of teachers in a Polyvagal Mental Fit Workshop dedicated to stress management and burnout prevention
Tammy Goren, M.S.W and Dr. Tamar Podoly leading a course on emotional treatment of trauma to clinical specialists
Photo by Rom Barnea. Participants practice new skills in the field.
Photo by Rom Barnea. Evening of Ukrainian culture organized by Folkowisko Foundation
Photo by Rom Barnea. Evening of Ukrainian culture organized by Folkowisko Foundation
Folkowisko team and NATAN.
Photo by Rom Barnea. Dr. Tamar Podoly leading the workshop with the group of clinicians