The community foundation welcoming displaced Ukrainians to Sydney

Sydney alone has welcomed over 1000 Ukrainians since the conflict began. That number continues to grow, with an additional 30 to 40 people arriving each week.

Amid fears that the growing number of arrivals could overwhelm volunteer support systems, Sydney Community Foundation has stepped in to respond. The Foundation is acting alongside a major donor, whose own local success can be traced back to grandparents who emigrated to Sydney from Europe during the second World War, and who wants to actively support a community having a similar experience.

Drawing on its community connections and fundraising expertise, the Foundation has co-designed the Ukrainian Helping Hand Project with key partners on the ground, the Ukrainian Council of NSW and NSW Service for the Treatment and Rehabilitation of Torture and Trauma Survivors (STARTTS). The project falls under the Foundation’s Be Kind Sydney initiative – a Public Benevolent Institution that works with local organisations to co-design programs that support the most vulnerable in the Sydney community, giving them the chance to create their own futures.

It is this mission that drives The Ukrainian Helping Hand Project, which has been designed to have both immediate and long-term impact. To address the most urgent needs, the project is fundraising to provide immediate cash assistance to displaced Ukrainians.

Many families arrive in Australia with very little – often just the clothes on their backs. Most are women with young children or elderly people, as Ukraine’s martial law requires men aged between 18 and 60 to remain in the country and join the military effort.

Those arriving find themselves caught in an impossible limbo. As they wait to transition from tourist visas to humanitarian visas, they are unable to work, receive Medicare or rental assistance. At the same time, costs associated with the visa application can be crushing.

To apply for a humanitarian visa, individuals must undergo medical examinations that cost in excess of $350. For a family of four, having often spent their savings coming to Australia, paying for the whole family’s mandatory health checks is nearly impossible. As a result, a majority of new arrivals are completely reliant on volunteers or extended family for accommodation, food and money.

Donations to the Helping Hand Project go towards supporting Ukrainians during this extended waiting period, whether that means covering the cost of mandatory medical examinations, accommodation, or other essentials. For Sydney Community Foundation, it was important that the families have the freedom to allocate the funds as they see fit, allowing them some dignity and agency in an otherwise unforgiving time.

Sydney Community Foundation also knew that any response to the crisis would need to take a long-term view; cash assistance is crucial in the first instance, but integrating displaced Ukrainians into the Sydney community, helping them build capacity and resilience, is an ongoing task requiring continued attention.

Listening to their service partners on the ground, the Foundation learnt that the network supporting the refugees was entirely volunteer run, with not one funded position in place. The effort was impressive: 1,000 volunteers from across the city had offered to help the Ukrainian Council of NSW’s welcome effort. The generosity was remarkable, but the volunteers were coordinating a mammoth task. To continue successfully it would require the dedication of full-time staff.

Through Be Kind Sydney, the Foundation has funded two full-time, paid Welcome Team members. The two women appointed to the roles had themselves recently fled Ukraine, meaning they were best placed to understand the needs of those arriving.