Moving Forward Together, in Community

The project aims to support refugees from Ukraine, especially Ukrainian Roma families, by improving their access to services, strengthening community ties, supporting rights awareness, and reducing prejudice against them.
The direct target group is 50–70 Ukrainian refugees living in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County, including 20–25 children. Indirect target groups are local communities, institutions, professionals, civil organisations and members of the majority society.
Main activities include presence-based social work, individual and family support, help with administration and access to services, a summer camp for Ukrainian refugee and local Roma children, women’s self-help groups for Ukrainian refugee and local women, a social media awareness campaign, a professional roundtable, and a policy recommendation. The methods are based on trust-building, personal support, community work, trauma-sensitive approaches and storytelling.
The organisation will cooperate with local institutions, professionals, civil actors and affected people. Results will be shared through public communication, professional discussions and the policy recommendation. In the long term, the project contributes to making Ukrainian refugee families, especially Ukrainian Roma families, more visible, accepted and supported in local communities.

The project supports the social integration, access to services, and enforcement of rights for refugee families who have arrived in Hungary from Ukraine—particularly Ukrainian Roma families—in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County. The situation of families who have lost their homes, livelihoods, and social ties as a result of the war is further exacerbated by poverty, language barriers, lack of information, distrust of institutions, limited ability to advocate for their interests, and prejudices related to their Roma heritage. The project aims to reduce these families’ vulnerability and strengthen their independence and community ties. Through personalized social support, institutional mediation, and the provision of information, it improves access to education, health and social services, and administrative procedures. It strengthens parents’ competencies, self-confidence, and advocacy skills, while providing safe, supportive community programs for children. A key element of the project is raising awareness among the majority population: videos, social media content, stories, and informational materials highlight the situation of refugee families and the importance of inclusion. The long-term goal of the initiative is to strengthen a community- and human rights-based support model that promotes families’ safety, social participation, access to justice, and dignified living conditions.

The project’s direct target group consists of refugee families from Ukraine living in Szabolcs-Szatmár-Bereg County—approximately 300 Ukrainian Roma and 1,000–1,500 non-Roma Ukrainians—with a particular focus on Ukrainian Roma refugee families. The project aims primarily to reach families with children who are in precarious living situations, have difficulty accessing educational, health, social, and administrative services, face language and information barriers, and may also encounter prejudice due to their Roma heritage. The project provides practical assistance, builds trusting relationships, promotes community retention, offers children’s programs, and improves access to services. The project’s indirect target group consists of local communities, institutions, and professionals: educators, social and child welfare professionals, healthcare workers, municipal employees, civil society actors, and members of the majority society who are exposed to the project’s messages through awareness-raising communication. We estimate the size of the indirect target group to be approximately 300 people. Fifty Ukrainian Roma refugees will be involved in the project.
The development of the proposal was based on the experiences and fieldwork from a previous refugee project, as well as discussions with the families involved. Based on feedback from the families, there is a simultaneous need for assistance with administrative procedures, children’s programs, community events, institutional mediation, and the reduction of prejudice. Throughout the project, stakeholders will be involved as participants, providers of feedback, and contributors: we will involve them in the planning, implementation, and evaluation of the programs.