6 stages, 1,200 families: how the "Recover" project from the Vadym Stolar Foundation has been helping Ukrainians
6 stages, 1200 families: how the "Recover" project from The Vadym Stolar Foundation has been helping Ukrainians who have lost their loved ones for more than a year
Since the beginning of the full-scale invasion of russia, every Ukrainian in one way or another faces various psychological problems. Life in constant stress, anxiety, fear for oneself and loved ones. And perhaps, it is the hardest for those who lost their loved ones in the war.
The large-scale project "Recover" is aimed at supporting families with children who have lost one of their parents due to hostilities, within the framework of which they have the opportunity to reset psycho-emotionally. This program has been implemented for the second year and during this time the team of The Vadym Stolar Foundation has helped 1200 families. Its sixth stage has recently been completed, details are in our material.
Where and how the "Recover" takes place
The idea of the project from the beginning was to create an atmosphere for participants that would maximally promote emotional recovery. So, the Foundation's team together with the founder Vadym Stolar immediately decided that it will be held in the safest and most picturesque places of our country. A hotel is chosen in one of the locations in the west of Ukraine for each stage, the last time VitaPark Polyana hosted the "Recover" - a hotel located on the territory of the popular Transcarpathian balneological resort of Polyana in the picturesque valley of the Pinya River, which is in the Svalyavsk Basin.
The second component of the project is people involved in its implementation. In addition to volunteers who prepare each event and support participants during it, there are also professional psychologists who work with adults, and animators who entertain children. Art therapists work with children and parents, interesting workshops and educational excursions, hikes in the mountains etc. are arranged.
Usually, each stage of the "Recover" has its own special feature. For the sixth, it was an opportunity to get a consultation from a therapist.
Impact of the project on participants
The concept of the "Recover" program, developed in spring of 2022, turned out to be so successful that it has been implemented almost unchanged for more than a year thanks to the efforts of patron Vadym Stolar and the Foundation's team. The effectiveness of the project is indicated by the numerous reviews of its participants, where they point to significant improvements in their psycho-emotional state.
In particular, mothers note a decrease in the level of anxiety of their children, a significant improvement in sleep, return of mobility, liveliness, curiosity, etc. They also emphasize the individual approach of the staff and the ability to "reach out" to each child.
Adults say about themselves that for the first time in a long time they were able to break away from difficult thoughts and try to return to normal life.
And the reviews cannot be without words of thanks to the team that organizes the rehabilitation program.
"I want to express my gratitude to the whole team and Vadym Stolar personally. Thank you so much for your support and recovery. Everything was productive and incredibly cool! Your work is worthy of respect!” – Alla stressed, one of the participants of the project.
"We are sincerely grateful that you were able to find an approach to each little heart of our children, you are the ray of light that made them understand that they are not alone," Olya stated, another participant of the "Recover".
What motivates the organizers
The organizers of the "Recover" project assure that despite all the difficulties, they get real satisfaction from their work. Both because of the awareness of how useful work they are doing, and because of incredible emotional response of the participants.
"Those who are not directly involved in the project probably have no idea how much effort and soul we put into it, but we know that it is all worth it. Because every smile on a mother's face, every child's laugh, every sincere feedback you give in private conversations and social networks is a huge impulse that motivates us to continue," Natalia Prykhodko says, a volunteer of the Vadym Stolar Foundation.
She also admitted the joint work of the participants and the project team, thanks to which it is possible to achieve significant results. Because not only the organizers, but also those who undergoing recovery have to make efforts and work on themselves to achieve a positive result.
Vadym Stolar himself, who personally visited the venue of the sixth stage of the program and talked with the participants, does not hide his emotions.
"Talking to the participants of the "Recover" project, I realized how difficult it is for them. But I also felt that they want and have the strength to return to a full-fledged life. Our project was created to help them in this. As a father of five children, I know that stress hits the children the hardest. And we must do everything we can to protect them. We will definitely continue the "Recover". After all, people and their health, both physical and mental, are extremely important. Because emotionally healthy and strong-spirited citizens are the key to the post-war recovery of the country and the revival of the nation", Vadym Stolar emphasizes.
