New Sure Start Children’s Home inaugurated in Yanoshi

The establishment of the new Sure Start Children’s Home (SSCH) is a milestone in neonatal and young infant (0-3 years) care and development in Zakarpattia. The SSCH’s goal is to provide high-quality support to parents of young children, and therapeutic sessions for young children with a special focus on the development of premature babies and toddlers. The building provides a modern and functional environment for the sessions, while the professional staff has outstanding knowledge in the field of childcare, movement therapy and early development.

In addition to early development, the aim of Yanoshi’s new SSCH is also to create a community centre where parents and caregivers can receive expert support as their children take their first steps towards a healthy, secure childhood. The demand for regular daily sessions remains high, making the project a success among mothers in Yanoshi and the surrounding villages.

At the handover ceremony, Mária Fischer, Director of ADVANCE presented the details of the programme in Ukraine. She said that they are doing their best to help single mothers in need, and they are employing several specialists to this end.

Szilvia Pércsi, head of the Sure Start Children’s Home in Berehove, said that thanks to the HUSKROUA project, they were able to also employ a paediatrician and a movement therapist since 2021.

– We are working to provide these children with the kind of development that they cannot have at home. We also provide the mothers with advice on childcare and household chores, and the children have access to a wide range of toys,” she said. “Currently, 19 families use the services of the Sure Start Children’s Home, our youngest child is seven weeks old and the oldest is three years old. When the war broke out, we suspended our services for seven months, from February to October, but we still kept in daily contact with the families. The relaunch was a joy for everyone, and I believe that the importance of the Sure Start Children’s Home is now greater than ever,” concluded the project manager.

Locations of implementation: Berehove, Yanoshi and Beregovo district/Berehove Raion in Ukraine, Szendrő, Olaszliszka and Boldogkőújfalu in Hungary
EU financial contribution: 334.284,19 EUR
Intended completion date of the project: 31 December 2023
Programme website: https://huskroua-cbc.eu/
Project identification number: HUSKROUA/1901/8.2/0061

The project is co-funded by the European Union.