Ternopil Center of the “Voices of Children” Foundation Closes: How Residents Can Still Get Psychological Support

Author:

Mariia Kucova

Starting in October, the regional “Voices of Children” center in Ternopil will be closing. For the past year and a half, a dedicated team of three psychologists and a coordinator has been offering psychosocial support to families and children impacted by the war.

Thank you for your work, for the happy faces of the children, for the new emotions they experienced,

reads one testimonial from the Ternopil center.

The Foundation is not completely pulling out of Ternopil — locals will still be able to get online psychological support.

The Ternopil center’s achievements

Even though the city has not faced the worst of the conflict, the war has left its scars on Ternopil. People are grappling with anxiety, air raid alerts, power outages, and personal losses. Many families of internally displaced persons (IDPs), whose loved ones are fighting at the front, have settled in the city.

We worked with entire families, says Iryna Hornitska, team leader and psychologist at the Ternopil center: Sometimes three psychologists would work with one family, which could include a grandmother, a mother, and a child. For example, if the child was facing bullying at school, we focused on helping them adjust socially. For the mother and grandmother, who had been displaced and whose husbands were at war, we first worked on stabilizing their situation as displaced individuals and then addressed the unique challenges they faced as military families.

When the center opened in March 2023, it was staffed by two psychologists, Iryna Hornitska and Iryna Fents. Later, they were joined by psychologist Svitlana Lomovtseva and coordinator Yuliia Drebeda.

Ternopil Center of the “Voices of Children” Foundation Closes: How Residents Can Still Get Psychological Support — Image 1

Ternopil Center of the “Voices of Children” Foundation Closes: How Residents Can Still Get Psychological Support — Image 2

Ternopil Center of the “Voices of Children” Foundation Closes: How Residents Can Still Get Psychological Support — Image 3

Since officially starting operations in April, the team has supported 1,064 children and 481 adults. They have conducted:

836 individual sessions with children and 579 with adults;
60 group therapy sessions for children and 32 for adults;
119 psychosocial support groups for both children and adults;
10 family-focused psychosocial sessions.

In addition, the Foundation’s specialists organized school events, took part in partner initiatives, and coordinated with other organizations to refer people for additional support when necessary.

Thanks to the “Voices of Children” Foundation, Ternopil has created a safe space for families with children. Since the city is small, the specialists often run into the people they helped, and children continued coming to the center until its final days.

Latest news

17.07.2026

Caring for Those Who Care for Children: How the Foundation Helps Its Specialists Recharge Every Year

“It’s ten o’clock at night, we’re walking through Truskavets, and the streetlights are on. The lights are actually on! And there’s music playing.” That was how colleagues from Ukraine’s frontline regions, with surprise and almost disbelief, described their first impressions of the city.

16.07.2026

“You All Have Big Eyes Because There’s Kindness in Them”: How June Went at Voices of Children Centers

“I drew you and your whole team. You all have big eyes because there’s kindness in them,” said a girl who attends activities at the Foundation’s center in Kropyvnytskyi. This summer, our kind-eyed team heldactivities at the centers and also traveled to local communities, libraries, shelters, and underground schools. In June, children painted sea pebbles and made wishes, watched thought-provoking animated films, learned how to tame the little monsters inside them, and made friendship bracelets.

01.07.2026

Cooking Dinner Without Electricity: How We Supported Families Remaining in Frontline Kherson

In Kherson, the day often begins with a single question, “Will there be electricity today?” The answer determines whether a child will be able to finish their homework, whether parents can heat up dinner, and whether there’s enough battery left on a phone to call loved ones. The city continues to endure daily shelling, which has, tragically, become part of everyday life. To help ease the daily challenges faced by families in the frontline Kherson region, the Kherson NGO “Journalists’ Association ‘AlternatyvA’” implemented the project “Rapid Winter Response for Ukrainian Children and Families” with the support of the Voices of Children Foundation and funding from ERIKS.