The Hub, given for use to AVSI by Unicredit, has been set up to respond to the numerous requests of Ukrainian refugees arriving in Italy and to coordinate the many offers of hospitality by Italian families. It was created by a network of organizations: it will be managed by AVSI Foundation together with Famiglie per l’Accoglienza, Associazione San Martino, Fondazione Franco Verga, Associazione I Bambini dell’Est, the Ukrainian NGO Emmaus, and the Associazione Medici in Famiglia.
The #HelpUkraine Hub came into being thanks to Unicredit upon the initiative of a number of different actors who, each according to their specifics, found themselves receiving both requests for help and information from Ukrainian refugees and offers of availability from Italian and non-Italian families to host, welcome and accompany them.
To share the availabilities and respond to the growing demand, AVSI, Famiglie per l’Accoglienza, Associazione San Martino, Fondazione Franco Verga, Associazione I Bambini dell’Est, the Ukrainian NGO Emmaus, and the Medici in Famiglia Impresa Sociale decided to coordinate and form a response network.
This resulted in the setting up of a tangible service, an open help desk that can answer specific questions (such as how to obtain a residence permit or how to enroll children in school). It can also match people seeking hospitality with those who are offering their home.
The Hub has two main goals: fostering the inclusion and the integration of Ukrainian citizens, who are coming to Italy to escape from the war in their country, while also supporting the people living in Italy who want to contribute to this process of reception and integration. In detail, it will carry out the following activities:
- provision of information, guidance and assistance to fleeing Ukrainian citizens and families who arrived to Italy;
- support in the necessary procedures to obtain a residence permit, to report unaccompanied minors, to register with the Italian national health service (SSN), to get the necessary vaccinations, to navigate the school system, etc.;
- registration of offers by families who are willing to host Ukrainian citizens in their homes or can put at their disposal flats or houses they own;
- matching hosting availabilities with the accommodation needs of the Ukrainian refugees, providing information, and implementing activities to raise awareness and to provide support in documentation and social matters;
- interventions of material support to Ukrainian refugees, to the families that host them, also through cash transfer and psychosocial support services;
- support for refugee children and teenagers through integration and participation in educational, recreational and sport activities;
- vocational training and language assistance for minors and adults, to acquire basic Italian language skills to foster the process of integration, access to education for minors, social and job integration for adults;
- activities of job orientation and preparation for work, especially but not only in the field of assistance and personal care;
- promotion of access to medical assistance, such as first medical examinations for adults, pediatric examinations, specialist examinations and tests for children and adults, antigenic and molecular swabs.
How to contact the #HelpUkraine Hub:
Contacts:
- +39.02.674988368 in Ukrainian and English
- +39.02.674988369 in Italian
- HelpUkraine@avsi.org
Working hours:
- From Monday to Friday – from 10 AM to 1 PM – from 2 to 5 PM
Operating office:
- viale Monza 79, 20131, Milan
Press information:
AVSI Press Office: Anna Zamboni +39 344 0215675 | anna.zamboni@avsi.org
Useful documents and links:
- Ukrainian families who need information can fill up the following form: https://bit.ly/3JgJPJf
- Families who are willing to host Ukrainian citizens in their homes can fill up the following form: https://forms.office.com/r/xrJCPy34Zj
- Families who can offer flats or houses to Ukrainian refugees can fill up the following form: https://forms.office.com/r/rzfWLxT88i
- Families who are already hosting Ukrainian refugees and need information or support can fill up the following form: https://forms.office.com/r/7QFD51k8zE
- Volunteers (individuals or legal entities) willing to help host families and Ukrainian refugees can fill up the following form: https://forms.office.com/r/Zdp65zfYNJ
- For medical assistance, such as first medical examinations for adults, pediatric examinations, specialist examinations and tests for children and adults, antigenic and molecular swabs the association Medici in Famiglia created a specific link to use: https://www.medicinfamiglia.it/sportello-assistenza-sanitaria-profughi-ucraina/
- Schools that need support for Ukrainian children and teenagers (especially for linguistic mediation) can refer to Cdo Opere Educative writing an email to segreteria@foe.it