A new day care branch of Dzherelo Centre will open on Chervona Kalyna Avenue in the Sykhiv district of Lviv. With financial support from Canada, renovations will soon begin at the site. The new facility will accommodate 20 young people with disabilities.
Dzherelo Centre is launching an important new phase — the creation of another day care branch. With support from the City Council, which has provided the premises, and a grant from the Canadian foundation Alongside Hope, renovation work will commence shortly.
The day care branch will be located in the building of a former housing maintenance office (ZhEK) on Chervona Kalyna Avenue. The premises, with a total area of over 200 square meters, were provided free of charge for use by the Lviv City Council. The Canadian foundation Alongside Hope (former Primate’s World Relief and Development Fund, PWRDF, Toronto) awarded a grant to support the first phase of the renovation.
The grant amounts to 75,000 Canadian dollars. The cheque for this amount was officially signed and presented by Honorary Consul of Canada in Ukraine, Oksana Wynnyckyj-Yusypovych, together with Dzherelo Centre’s co-founders, Mykola Swarnyk and Oksana Kunanec-Swarnyk. Dzherelo is currently seeking partners and additional funding for the second phase of renovation work.
The project aims not only to renovate the space and create a barrier-free environment, but also to develop individualized learning and development programs for each participant and actively engage volunteers in working with youth. The goal is to enhance inclusion and dignity for persons with disabilities, foster their participation in community life, and support the development of independence and social skills.
“The new branch will serve 20 young people with disabilities, who will receive day care services, social support, and opportunities for socialization and development of independent living skills. This is very important for the youth with disabilities, for their families, and for the city of Lviv as a whole, as around 30 of our participants have already turned 18 and can no longer attend our programs together with children. So, this is a major milestone for our community, as it brings us closer to the goal of making high-quality care accessible to even more people with disabilities,” said Dzherelo Centre Director Zoreslava Liulchak.
Currently, about 300 children and youth with disabilities attend Dzherelo’s day care program at the main building in Sykhiv and six additional branches located in different districts of the city.
Here is the full list of locations:
- 86a Chervona Kalyna Avenue (main building)
- 23 Roksolyany Street
- 40 V. Velykoho Street
- 3a Kyrylivska Street
- 19 B. Khmelnytskoho Street
- 24 Mykolaichuka Street
- 12 Halytska Street (Vynnyky)
Renovation works are also nearing completion at the eighth branch, which will soon open on Patona Street. The new facility on Chervona Kalyna Avenue will become the ninth branch in the Dzherelo day care network.
The opening, renovation, and furnishing of each branch have been financially supported by the Canada-Ukraine Foundation (CUF) together with the volunteer initiative group “Friends of Dzherelo” (Toronto).
Background
Dzherelo began its work back in 1993. At that time, parents of children with disabilities from the “Nadiya” association and volunteers from Canada founded the charitable organization and Dzherelo, as an educational-rehabilitation Centre. It began as two small groups for children with cerebral palsy, operating on the premises of a local kindergarten. From the very beginning, Canadian friends and partners played a key role in fundraising to support children and youth with disabilities. Experts from Canada also came to Ukraine to help develop services for children with disabilities.
In 1996, thanks to charitable donations from Canadians of Ukrainian origin and with the support of the Canadian fund “Children of Chernobyl”, construction began on the Dzherelo building at 86a Chervona Kalyna Avenue. Even after the main Dzherelo building opened in Sykhiv, many children remained at home because the Centre could not accommodate everyone who wished to receive services. More and more parents were requesting access to Dzherelo’s programs. In 2017, the Centre opened its first branch in another part of Lviv — at 3a Kyrylivska Street. Since then, year after year, new branches have been opened for children and youth across the city. The Canada-Ukraine Foundation (Toronto) has provided the largest share of financial support for the setup of each of these branches.
