Support for Children and Parents: A Psychosocial Support Center Operates in Frontline Izyum

Residents of the frontline city of Izyum can receive psychological, social, and advisory assistance at the Psychosocial Support Center run by the Peaceful heaven of Kharkiv Foundation. We established this center with the support of the Ukrainian Educational Platform and financial backing from the Ukraine Humanitarian Fund (UHF).

The center provides services for both children and their parents. Psychologists conduct group and individual sessions for children to help them cope with stress and anxiety. Speech therapists support language development, improve cognitive skills, attention, memory, and motor skills.

Parents also receive psychological and social consultations and can register for multipurpose cash assistance.

"Our center plays a crucial role in supporting children and their parents by providing comprehensive assistance. With a psychologist, a speech therapist, and a social worker on-site, we can address a wide range of community needs," says Ksenia Narozhna, project manager of the Peaceful heaven of Kharkiv Foundation.

The center also hosts trainings and mine safety awareness sessions. Given Izyum’s proximity to the frontline and the extensive destruction it has suffered, such spaces are rare.

"Children lack social interaction, and here they find it. This place helps them momentarily escape from the difficult reality we live in," shares Iryna Oleksandrivna, a regular visitor of the center.

Parents highlight the visible progress their children make after sessions with psychologists and speech therapists, emphasizing the importance of the center's work.

Despite ongoing shelling, many people, including children, remain in Izyum. We continue working to provide them with the support they need.