OUR GOAL
Let us act from the heart, together!
Our non-profit organization Beregynja was founded to provide psychosocial support for Ukrainian mothers and their children in Austria. We organize language courses in German and Ukrainian, leisure activities, psychological support and inclusive educational opportunities. This relieves the burden on single parents and supports children with and without disabilities.
We work with children, especially those with disabilities, and their families. We rely on the expertise of specialist staff – teachers, speech therapists, psychologists and mentors. We are committed to making our world a better place and invite everyone to join us in this project: With the implementation of your own ideas, social commitment and financial support – we welcome every contribution.
WHAT WE DO
More than just a place to stay
Beregynja is intended to help families who have fled Ukraine to start a new life with their children in Austria and shape it in a self-determined way. The living situation of many families has changed following the expansion of the war in Ukraine in violation of international law. In addition to a wide range of leisure activities, events and inclusive support services, Beregynja also organizes psychological support. Our team also understands from its own experience the enormous challenges that a move to another country entails.
To make it easier for new arrivals to integrate into Austrian society, we offer German courses and provide intensive support to help them find their feet. For mothers with children who come to us, Beregynja is more than just a place to stay. It is a living community of support and solidarity in which women who have had similar experiences can network with each other. For her children, “Beregynja is a place where they learn and are encouraged through play.
Due to Russian aggression on the territory of Ukraine, millions of Ukrainians had to leave their homes. Their move was followed by a rapid change in lifestyle, which raised questions for Ukrainians about belonging to a different environment, their own position in the new society and their identity in the new surroundings.
We are committed people who create an atmosphere of education and training for young and old and the possibility of further development, on the basis of which social potential, positive skills of members and their path to a happy life can develop. “Beregynja” appeared as a project for the freedom of Ukrainians and Ukrainians to unite with those who are close to them in Vienna. Our aim is to promote the new perspectives of learning and personal development that build a beautiful, free society from early childhood to old age.
If someone were to look for a single idea behind the creation and development of “Beregynja”, it would probably be the idea of helping and possibly supporting Ukrainian families and children. At “Beregynja” in Vienna, people with special needs are given more than just the opportunity to adapt to a new life. The idea of founding an association of like-minded people for Ukrainian families in Vienna was born in May 2022, when Mykola Turovskyi and Alina Zavatska realized that they could not leave Ukrainian children without a practical support system and a comfortable space for their development. The result was a project based on care and networking.
From the beginning, our association was supported by the Ukrainian community of St. Barbara. Thanks to the emergency aid center “YOUkraine” we received the first premises for our charity center and thus began the process of helping children with special needs to receive comprehensive care. One and a half years of tireless work have now passed. We are pleased about the common goal with our partners: YOUkraine, Barbareum, Train of Hope, Unlimited Democracy, The Feel Good Store, the municipality of St. Barbara, SocialWORKHUB, the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Austria and many others.
We have woken up in a world in which any hopes of a happy life are doomed to failure without active action and human support means everything. The association of those who care has rightly won: volunteer work.
The Beregynia team is growing fast. We offer dozens of cultural, sports and music courses, language courses, therapeutic groups and individual counseling for all ages in various modalities of psychotherapy and psychology.
Those who have been with us from the beginning: Mykola Turovskyi, Alina Zavatska, Elena Lebedeva and those who joined the team along the way: Ekaterina Rusakova, Iryna Okolnych, Olga Maral, Serhiy Primachenko, Anastasia Savchenko, Mila Berezyuk and many others are looking forward to welcoming you to their community.