Training on countering professional burnout for employees of social protection bodies of Odeska Oblast. May 2025
November 2nd is Social Sphere Workers’ Day. This is a special day for our Foundation, as a significant part of our work is dedicated to supporting the social protection system.
What is the social protection system? Behind these words are thousands of people who work daily to help those who need it most, particularly those forced to leave their homes due to the war. Social sphere workers do more than just provide social services, they protect a person’s right to restore a normal life.
Our project to support the social protection system has been running for four years and involves numerous collaboration formats with state institutions, ranging from distributing laptops and bicycles to conducting training sessions and forums for the professional community.
We asked our colleagues why it is important for them to support social protection institutions. Read their answers from all corners of the country below.
We thank every social sphere professional for choosing the path of helping others!
Valeriia Vershynina, Executive Director of the CF SSS:
“Since 2016, the Charity Foundation ‘Stabilization Support Services’ has been systematically supporting social protection institutions, helping them overcome the challenges of war and strengthening their capacity to serve people.
With the support of UNHCR, we have had the opportunity over the past four years to not only strengthen this area of work following the full-scale invasion but also to help restore destroyed and de-occupied social institutions. The goal of this project is to support both those who need help and those who provide it.
We seek and implement sustainable solutions to support communities and social institutions that provide social adaptation and integration services for IDPs.
I thank all social sphere workers for giving every person the opportunity to receive necessary services and realize their right to a dignified life. We will continue to make every possible effort to support you and overcome the social consequences of the war together.”
Forum “The Social Sphere in Wartime” for communities of Ivano-Frankivska Oblast. Ivano-Frankivsk, May 2025
Kristina Myronenko, Project Manager:
“Social protection institutions play a key role in supporting people who have been forced to move to other regions of Ukraine due to the full-scale invasion. Social workers bear a heavy burden of helping those who are returning from the front lines, leaving occupied territories, or facing difficult challenges.
By supporting institutions and strengthening the social sector, we create decent conditions in which every person feels cared for, respected, and confident about the future.
I would like to sincerely congratulate all social workers and express my immense gratitude to you for helping people overcome difficulties, recover, and believe in a better future with warmth and compassion every day. I wish you strength, inspiration, and professional recognition for your extremely important work!
Transfer of bicycles to the Yagotinsky City Territorial Center for Social Services (provision of social services). August 2025
Oleh Shapovalov, regional project coordinator in Khmelnytska Oblast:
“Cooperation with state institutions and local communities to strengthen the social protection system is a partnership based on mutual respect, shared values, and a desire for qualitative change.
This typically involves collaborative efforts to enhance the overall effectiveness of the social support system. Such interaction enables the solution of practical problems together. For example, making social services more mobile (providing social workers with bicycles), digitizing the work of institutions (providing them with laptops and office equipment), and countering the threat of blackouts (providing institutions with charging stations). Additionally, to organize training sessions, consultations, and events for the exchange of experiences and to jointly plan the development of the social protection system that benefits the community.
On the occasion of Social Worker’s Day, I would like to thank you for your challenging yet extremely important work, marked by compassion, patience, and humanity. May your work always bring joy and gratitude to the people you help!”
Transfer of laptops and printers to the Department of Labor and Social Protection of the Population of the Khmelnytsky City Council and the Khmelnytsky City Center for Social Services. July 2025
Alina Strilets, regional social worker in Dnipropetrovska Oblast:
“Supporting social protection institutions is not just a job, but part of a common good cause. It is there that people with big hearts work to help others in their most difficult moments. Working with them is an opportunity to change lives for the better together.
Today, on Social Workers’ Day, I would like to sincerely thank all of you for your care, kindness, and dedication. May every day bring you inspiration, smiles, and gratitude from those you help. You make this world a warmer and more humane place!”
Coordination meeting with the leadership of the social protection department of the Solone village council. Dnipropetrovsk region, February 2025
Liubov Muliovana, regional coordinator of the project in Chernihivska Oblast:
“Dear colleagues, dedicated social workers!
I sincerely congratulate you on our professional holiday!
I am a social work specialist. For many years, I taught at a university and trained new generations of specialists. Now I am a regional project coordinator, and I see what your daily work really looks like. Your work is the direct embodiment of human dignity and social justice. In times of greatest hardship, you connect people, provide necessary resources, and leave no one to face their troubles alone.
I know how much knowledge, emotional strength, and endurance your work requires. I want your professionalism to receive the systematic support it deserves. My mission in this project is to ensure you have all the necessary tools to work effectively.
Our country is currently experiencing a challenging period in its history. Every successful case, every restored family, and every supported community is your achievement. Supporting you means investing in the social stability and recovery of the region.
Thank you for your daily, extremely difficult, and necessary work. I wish you good health, professional inspiration, and well-being.”
Transfer of bicycles to the Social Services Center in the Ponornytsia community. Chernihivska Oblast, June 2025
Yuliana Hasanbekova, project coordinator for the development of social passports:
“Social protection is, first and foremost, about caring for people’s safety. Every person, regardless of age, gender, place of residence, health status, or income, needs to know that if their life circumstances suddenly change and they find themselves in trouble, they can be assured of receiving support and assistance. As an internally displaced person from Luhanska Oblast, I saw this firsthand in 2022. That is why our social institutions must be provided with everything they need to help people.
The main element of any system is the people who drive it. The social sector employs people with big hearts, professionals for whom work has become a vocation. I sincerely congratulate social workers on their professional holiday and wish you strength, inspiration, and great faith in people!”
Workshop for community leaders in Khersonska Oblast on developing social protection systems at the local level. Odesa, August 2025
Yevhen Lashchenko, regional social specialist in Zakarpatska Oblast:
“Happy Social Workers’ Day!
Zakarpattia is a multinational region with four borders that has always been known for its tolerance. Today, it is one of the safest regions in the country. On the one hand, security creates additional opportunities for social protection institutions, but on the other hand, it poses new challenges and adds to their responsibilities.
Our Foundation provides social workers with advisory and mentoring support, conducts training sessions on crisis counseling and burnout prevention, organizes training and forums, helps create social passports for communities, and implements many other initiatives. Together, we are seeking ways to make our assistance meaningful and effective.
For me, the main attributes of this cooperation are trust, mutual support, and a common goal — to help people effectively and with compassion.
Thank you to all social workers for your endurance, professionalism, and humanity!”
Workshop on combating professional burnout for social protection system employees in Zakarpatska Oblast. September 2025
Olha Borodina, regional coordinator of the project in Donetska Oblast:
“Social protection institutions have always been at the heart of the community. In wartime, social workers have a special mission — to serve as a bridge between the state and its citizens, between problems and solutions, and between despair and hope. This responsible work requires endurance, compassion, and love for people.
For me, supporting social protection institutions is not a formality, but a productive partnership and effective cooperation in the most difficult times. Every joint initiative, every issue resolved for those who find themselves in difficult circumstances, is a reminder that we are moving in the right direction.
I congratulate social workers on their professional holiday! I wish that the state always properly appreciates your work — and that you are inspired by good deeds, gratitude, and respect from those to whom you provide such important assistance every day.”
Delivery of bicycles to the Territorial Center for Social Services (provision of social services) in Myrnohrad. Donetska Oblast, July 2025
Anastasiia Hunisheva, regional project specialist in Mykholaivska Oblast:
“Supporting social protection institutions is a crucial mission, as they have become a vital pillar of support for the most vulnerable groups in the community.
I sincerely thank the donors and the CF SSS for this opportunity to support specialists from social institutions and provide them with various forms of assistance. Such cooperation serves as a driving force and strong support for institutions, enabling them to reach a new level of social service provision.
I would like to wish all social workers to believe in themselves and in the work they do to achieve a common goal. You all play an important role in the life of the community. I wish you good health, strength, and inspiration. Peace and victory!”
Presentation of the social passport of the Novoodeska community and the medium-term plan for the development of the social protection system. Mykolaivska Oblast, October 2025
Yevheniia Dobrodzii, Head of the Social Sphere Support Department:
“Today, we live and work in conditions of war and forced adaptation to constant change. This is not an easy process, but it is important to have a positive attitude toward inevitable change. Lao Tzu said, ‘Change is not the end, but a new beginning!’
Social workers are often the first to meet those in need of help and rarely admit that they themselves need support. Even at the stage of its formation, the CF “Stabilization Support Services” decided to support not only internally displaced persons, but also social institutions. I am honored to be part of a powerful team and a bold project that supports the capacity of such institutions.
I sincerely wish that all representatives of the social sector will start each new day with positive thinking and find at least small joys in their daily struggles, in order to preserve their undoubtedly good hearts. I wish you peace and harmony in your professional life and spiritual comfort in your family circle. Happy Social Worker Day!”
Interregional forum “The Social Sphere During Wartime: Regional Experience, Challenges, and Prospects” for communities in Volynska and Rivnenska oblasts. Lutsk, May 2025
We are helping to improve the social protection system through the Support to the Capacity of Government Institutions and Local Communities To Strengthen Social Protection Systems in Ukraine project, which is being implemented with the support of UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency in Ukraine.