Actions led by ENSIE's member, SWR and its members
ASES Foundation (Atelier of Cooperatives and Social Economy Foundation) has provided accommodation for 4 Ukrainian families, a total of 19 people providing them with comprehensive social, psychological, health and legal assistance as well as translations of documents. The Foundation helped 9 people find a job, including 3 of them in WISES. The families can stay in the foundation's apartments for 2 months at no cost.
The Association Kurka Wodna has co-created a warehouse for refugees with food, clothing and hygiene products operating since the beginning of March. Employees of the association sort the clothes received from donors and complete ready-made packages for refugees. A warehouse operated by volunteers, open daily in March, currently 3 times a week. They issue packages serving from 400 to 600 people a day.
Moreover several dozen of Ukrainian refugees has already found job in the WISES of the region.
Support from public authorities
In accordance with the Art. 29 of the Act of March 12, 2022 on assistance to Ukrainian war refugees in connection with an armed conflict in the territory of Ukraine a citizen of Ukraine residing on the territory of the Republic of Poland, whose stay in the territory of the Republic of Poland is considered legal on the basis of art. 2 and which has been entered in the citizen register may receive pecuniary and non-pecuniary benefits on the terms and in the mode of the act on social assistance.
First, citizens of Ukraine receive humanitarian aid. Such assistance in the form of accommodation, full board, care medical services is provided by the local administration with huge support of NGOs.
The new regulations allow free access to the Polish labor market for Ukrainian war refugees, whose stay has been recognized as legal, as well as access to active labor market instruments forms of assistance and referral to employment through labor offices and Social Economy Support Centres (OWES). Ukrainian war refugees will also acquire the right to family benefits and benefits educational, family caring capital ( approx. 100 euro for child) and a good start.
Taking into account that the citizens of Ukraine may be, among others unemployed persons the Act on social cooperatives does not limit the application of its provisions to Polish citizens, this act in force already allow for establishment social cooperatives by Ukrainian citizens who meet the conditions set out in the special act. This also applies to their employment by social cooperatives.
The Ukrainian refugees with disabilities can participate in Occupational therapy workshops, work in Establishments of professional activity. Persons with disabilities from Ukraine will be able to be employed in sheltered employment establishment if they have a document confirming a disability under the provisions of the Act on rehabilitation.
Currently the State Fund for the Rehabilitation of Persons with disabilities adopted the program "Helping Ukrainian citizens with disabilities".The aim of the program is to provide assistance to disabled refugees who have come to Poland in connection with Russia's aggression against Ukraine.
Type of additional support needed:
A characteristic of this group of migrants is that they are mainly women with children. SWR observes a very high interest in searching for a job. However within the framework of the available EU funds it will only be possible for procedural reasons to launch these funds next year. Therefore they ask the European Commission to support effectively Social Economy Support Centres ( OWES) in finding employment for Ukrainian refugees, by allowing OWES to directly finance job creation for Ukrainian target group in the area of the social economy. For instance the Social Economy support Centre - OWES SWR has created approx. 300 jobs in the last 3 years in social enterprises . They also cooperate with several other centres OWES. Based on the knowledge of the Polish support system for social enterprises, they are convinced that each of the approx. 40 OWES centres existing in Poland could create 50-500 jobs for war refugees from Ukraine. However the condition for OWES quick support is to obtain funds directly from Brussels. In this case, they estimate the cost of creating one job at EUR 2,000-10,000 depending on the type of employment. Otherwise, if the funds went through the Polish administration at the central and local level, the whole process would be delayed by at least a year.