Project of grant support for social initiatives carried out by religious communities and activists in their communities throughout Ukraine (except temporarily occupied territories).

Project goals: 

• support for initiatives aimed at integration and support of persons in difficult life circumstances; 

• search and training of young activists in local communities 

• establishment of cooperation between the state, the church and the public environment for the sustainable development of the community;

The formula for a potential participant:

Minimum experience in project implementation + social project idea for community development + team (representative of religious community + active community representative) 

Geography of the project:

All of Ukraine, except temporarily occupied territories. 

Format of the educational grant project: 

• Annual grant competition;

• three-day online training from professional trainers;

• support of social projects during implementation.

Target audience of the project:

• Religious communities that already carry out social activities or plan to start them

• Active community representatives who contribute to its development 

• Parish youth who have ideas or want to try themselves in project management and social service.

• Public organizations that want to develop their own community 

• Monastic congregations working in the field of social service.

Grant competition policy

The grant competition takes place once a year. The maximum amount of the mini-grant is up to UAH 25,000. We do not support the construction of churches and chapels. We do not support projects whose goals are solely the purchase of equipment or repair work without working with the target group.

Terms of participation in the project:

• The team of project organizers, which includes a priest and active community representatives, volunteers. The team should include representatives of both groups. 

• The existence of a well-founded idea of a sustainable social project in the community. 

• Presence of a registered non-profit (public, charitable, religious) organization and a bank account.

• The duration of the project of the team of participants is at least 3 months.

NB 

We do not cooperate with the churches of the Moscow Patriarchate (Russian Orthodox Church) 

We accept projects only in Ukrainian 

We support projects that: 

• improve the standard of living of vulnerable categories of the population in the community (for example, services: providing psychological support, informational and legal counseling, training courses for people who lost their jobs due to the war, etc.); 

• promote non-formal education in communities (for example, trainings and webinars for teenagers or young people; training for women or families);

• increase youth interest in Ukrainian culture, history, and national identity
  (for example: creating photo exhibitions from old photos; organizing photo sessions in authentic clothes - reproducing an image from old photos; learning the Ukrainian language in an interesting format; historical book clubs online, etc.);

• develop social entrepreneurship in communities (charity kitchen/laundry/bakery, creation of finished products (tea, frozen goods, energy bars, etc.));

• attract young people to the church, popularize the church among young people (organization of catechisms in new formats, organization of online meetings with children/teenagers who went abroad due to the war,  schools, eco camps, youth camps, tourist hikes in the mountains with a priest, organization and holding of thematic prayers);

• improve the level and quality of leisure time for children, families and young people in the community (youth spaces, art therapy studios, charity fairs/festivals, creation of tourist routes together with young people); 

After the end of the competition, project participants will undergo a three-day online training. 

Project calendar: 

June 30 - August 1, 2022 - acceptance of applications for participation in the competition 

July 11, 2022 - counseling on participation in the online competition

July 21, 2022 - consultation on participation in the competition online 

July 29, 2022 - consultation on participation in the competition online 

August 1-9, 2022 – selection of winning teams

August 10, 2022 - announcement of competition results 

October - May 2022 - implementation of projects 

June 2023 - reporting.