For the past seven years the You Too family center in northeastern Ukraine has been a lifeline for families. It serves about 1,000 people each month, and has many activities and services for children.
“In Ukraine, nearly all orphans are considered ‘social orphans;’ their parents are still alive but unable to care for them due to poverty and addiction,” states You Too‘s founder, Slava. In 2017 he and his team opened the You Too family center in Kharkiv in hopes of addressing the systemic underlying causes of orphanhood by supporting families in crisis. AFFEO partners with them in their efforts.
You Too family support takes many forms, including a children’s day center which holds individual and group sessions with a psychologist, helps children catch up with the school curriculum, provides a “wise carpenter” as well as a robotics course, and hosts several sports activities.
The You Too center is a place where children and families in crisis can go up to five times per week. The goal of the center is to create a place where children can feel safe. One spokesperson said that they want to instill in children the ability to say, “I can.” She went on to comment, “The ability to say ‘I can’ shapes a child’s personality. He will know that if he can figure it out here, build something here, he will be able to do it even when things get difficult. Such belief in oneself will be beneficial for children in school and later in life and will help them overcome any obstacles.”
You Too seriously needs our prayers right now.Since the current Russian offensive that began on May 10, Kharkiv has been under daily shelling. Kharkiv is the second-largest city in Ukraine, located just 19 miles from the northeastern border of Ukraine and Russia. To date an estimated 20,000 have fled or been evacuated from the city. Pray that the You Too facilities remain unharmed and that the children who use them will feel safe. Please also pray that God would help the You Too team find the necessary funds to build a bomb shelter. “There are no certified bomb shelters in our community, only basements of private homes of some residents,” Slava stated. “A bomb shelter is essential for our safety, for the safety of the children and adults we work with, and for the development of our organization.”
Thank you for your prayers for what God is doing in Kharkiv. The You Too team is grateful for our support, trust and prayers.