As part of the first phase of the initiative, more than 140 female employees of Metinvest and their children who suffered as a result of the war, as well as women and children of deceased employees of the company, will undergo a specially developed program to stabilize their emotional state. The first joint shift took place in the Carpathians and began on November 17 and will last for three weeks. The “Unbreakable Mom” program will be the first joint project of the “Saving Life” Humanitarian Headquarters and the “Masha Fund” for the rehabilitation of women and children affected by the war. For Metinvest, this is not the first project of psychological assistance during the war – the Group had provided its aid within the rehabilitation and reintegration centers of employees who were forcibly displaced, and also purchased medicine.
Why is this important?
Since its foundation, the core mission of the Humanitarian Headquarters “Saving Lives” has been to help civilians of Ukraine overcome difficulties, pain, and the consequences of war, through the involvement of partners and Metinvest’s own business. After all, from the first day of the war, the employees of the Group found themselves at the forefront of the confrontation with the aggressor in the cities on the front line or near the front line. Cities such as Mariupol and Avdiyivka suffered heavy damage as a result of military operations. Other cities in which Metinvest’s enterprises are located – Zaporizhzhia, Kryvyi Rih, and others – did not escape enemy shelling. The war became a stressful and extraordinary test for tens of thousands of employees of the company, who continue to support Ukraine in their workplaces, supporting the economy, helping the Armed Forces and local communities, and joining the ranks of the Armed Forces. In such conditions, it was decided within the framework of the “Saving Lives” Humanitarian Headquarters to start work on a comprehensive program of physical and psychological rehabilitation of civilians in the regions of Metinvest’s presence: veterans, their family members, women, and children. The first direction of the new initiative was the prosthetics project for war veterans. The second direction was the involvement in the “Unbreakable Mom” project, which will help stabilize the emotional state of the Group’s employees and their children, as well as civilians: women and their children who had to go through difficult moments of hostilities.
“Metinvest is a big family. The war became a difficult test for our family because a large number of our employees were forced to leave their hometowns due to the shelling of the aggressor. Unfortunately, our family includes more than 1,000 employees and their families who have died or been injured in war. We especially ache for Mariupol and Avdiivka, the cities that were almost destroyed by the aggressor. However, the main humanitarian task of the company now is the maintenance and rehabilitation of the employees who remain working in the company – they are its support and the support of Ukraine because they are doing everything possible to bring our victory closer. We realized that we should start the emotional recovery from those who suffered the most difficult trials – Metinvest employees and their children, – Yuriy Ryzhenkov, General Director of the Metinvest Group, comments on the beginning of the project. – In the person of Masha Yefrosinina and her Fund, we have found an ideal and experienced partner for such an initiative. I hope that “Unbreakable Mom” is only the first of many projects that will contribute to the rehabilitation of our employees, their families, and thousands of civilians from the most war-affected regions of Ukraine within the framework of the “Saving Life” Humanitarian Headquarters.
What are the features of the project?
The Unbreakable Mom project was launched in June 2022 by the Masha Fund, the co-founders of which are Masha Yefrosinina and Oksana Nechyporenko. The head of the Fund is Tetyana Muratkina. This project is a program to stabilize the emotional state of women and children affected by the war, specially developed by specialists in psychotherapy and post-traumatic syndromes. For three weeks, race participants and their children undergo intensive work with such specialists in the Carpathians. After that, up to three months of psychological support and online tutoring await those who still need therapy.
“War destroys not only our power grids or houses. The war destroys life and it destroys Ukrainians from the inside. We have already faced a big problem of the psychological and physical trauma of women. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainian women have already suffered from the war. “Masha Fund” takes the most traumatized women under its wing, says co-founder of the Foundation Masha Yefrosinina. – To date, we have helped more than a thousand people! But the number of psychologically traumatized women increases every day of the war. Therefore, it is really important when large charitable foundations or businesses join our project. Because together we can do even more! And I’m happy to announce the opening of the first group of “Unbreakable Mom” together with the DO IT TOGETHER Charity Fund, which is part of the Metinvest Group’s “Save Lives” Humanitarian Headquarters. Together, we are reviving women for the sake of reviving Ukraine.”
The program of the wards of the project is scheduled hourly every day: group and individual classes with psychotherapists, art therapists, and physical therapy. More than 80 psychologists are involved in the program. The goal of the “Unbreakable Mom” program is to prevent the development of PTSD and stabilize the psycho-emotional state through processing traumatic experiences, mastering self-regulation methods, forming successful coping strategies, developing the ability to adapt, self-realization, creating new social ties, increasing the level of social activity of program participants, improving family relations, increasing the level of communication.
Who are the organizers?
The RAZEM DAMY RADĘ – DO IT TOGETHER Charity Fund is part of the Humanitarian Headquarters “Saving Lives” created by the Metinvest Group in coordination with the Rinat Akhmetov Foundation at the beginning of the Russian military aggression against Ukraine. The initiative envisages large-scale continuous aid to Ukraine with products and necessities. For this purpose, two hubs have been organized in Poland, where bulk cargoes are collected, sorted, and prepared for shipment. In coordination with the government of Ukraine, they are delivered to cities and regions where this support is needed. In addition to food products, medical institutions have started to receive the aid within the framework of the initiative. Currently, the new direction of the work of “Saving Lives” has become the rehabilitation of employees injured as a result of the war: war veterans, their families, female employees, and their children. You can learn more about the initiative and join it at the link: https://savinglives.scm.com.ua
The public organization “Masha Fund” was created to oppose any kind of violence and support general charity throughout Ukraine. The co-founders of the fund are Masha Yefrosinina, actress, TV presenter, honorary UN ambassador in the field of the population of Ukraine on issues of gender equality and the fight against violence, and Oksana Nechyporenko, director of the GoGlobal public organization, coordinator of the Ukrainian Anti-Crisis Center in Warsaw. The flagship project of the Masha Fund. Women” is the “Unbreakable Mom” program. Every day, the Fund receives hundreds of questionnaires from women who need help. Almost 60% of them were under occupation, the rest survived the blockade or were in terrible conditions in hot spots of Ukraine. 25% witnessed violence. In 2022, more than 1,000 women and children passed through the rehabilitation camp of the “Unbreakable Mom” project by the “Masha Fund”. The plans for 2023 are to double the number of program participants.
