East Europe Foundation announces the winners of the second wave of the “Support for CSO Initiatives on Territorial Community Recovery” grant competition, held within the framework of the “Phoenix: The Power of Communities” project with the support of the European Union.

The competition is designed to support civil society organisations that help communities recover, adapt to wartime conditions, and advance on the path of EU integration.

As a result of the competition, 13 organisations will receive grant funding ranging from UAH 1,100,000 to 1,600,000, as well as organisational support — including online courses, networking, and more — to help implement their ideas. The winning projects span a wide range of areas, from community development strategies and energy efficiency to support for veterans, women 45+, and the development of rural tourism.

Meet the winning organisations and their projects:

• The charitable organisation “Charitable Foundation “Volunteer Union “PORUCH”” will create a safe space with educational and developmental activities for 60 children aged 6–16 in Izium (Kharkiv region). This will help children who have lived through the war cope with anxiety and regain motivation to learn, while parents will receive guidance on how to support them.
• The charitable organisation “Charitable Foundation “Dialogue of Communities”” will help local self-government bodies in five relocated territorial communities of Donetsk, Luhansk, and Dnipropetrovsk regions work more effectively with compensation claims for damaged and destroyed property. Residents will also receive individual support in preparing documentation, and the experience gained will form the basis of recommendations for other communities.
• The charitable organisation “Charitable Foundation “Promprylad”” will promote employment and economic self-sufficiency for vulnerable population groups in Ivano-Frankivsk region through retraining in technical professions in demand on the regional labor market. The organisation will build cooperation between employers, educational institutions, and industry experts to adapt training programs to labor market needs, will run short-term training courses, and will conduct a communications campaign about learning opportunities and employment prospects.
• The charitable organisation “Charitable Foundation “Community Development Foundation”” will create opportunities for local artisans in the Novovolynsk, Poromiv, and Lytovezh territorial communities (Volyn region): it will set up a space for developing their craft on the premises of the Novovolynsk City Council’s Business Support Center, launch a training program, and support their initiatives. The project will also help raise the profile of the artisans’ products and foster dialogue between them and local self-government bodies.
• The charitable organisation “Kherson Community Foundation “Zakhyst”” will help strengthen Kherson residents’ sense of belonging to their community, even while they are far from home. To this end, the organisation will step up the work of city community hubs and introduce online tools for community participation.
• NGO “Open Space for Public Development” will improve access to legal, administrative, social, and psychological services for veterans and their family members in the Ladyzhyn territorial community, Vinnytsia region. A navigation and referral system — the “veteran’s route” — will be launched on the basis of the “Veteran’s One-Stop Office.” Specialists and volunteers will be trained to work with veterans, who together with their families will receive psychosocial support and, where needed, referrals to specialised services.
• NGO “DIXI GROUP” will help local self-government bodies in 10 territorial communities learn to strategically plan energy efficiency measures. The result will be draft medium-term target programs and practical tools for monitoring their implementation.
• NGO “Innovative Action” will support women aged 45+ in the Vinnytsia city territorial community, including internally displaced persons, in professional development and strengthening economic resilience. The organisation will study the employment-related needs of this age group, help women develop skills to create their own products and services, and share the project’s results and participants’ achievements with a wider audience.
• NGO “PH CAPITAL” will conduct a comprehensive assessment of social service needs among residents of the Zbarazh territorial community, Ternopil region. Based on the findings, the organisation will develop documents for relevant local self-government bodies aimed at improving the structure and functioning of social protection services in the community, will develop or update documentation for the introduction of at least two priority social services, and will provide training for community specialists.
• NGO “Power of Interaction” will help the Oleksandrivka community, Mykolaiv region, develop a Development Strategy for 2027–2037 and an implementation plan. Residents and local authority representatives will be actively involved in the process to ensure the document reflects the community’s real needs.
• The public union “Association for the Promotion of Rural Green Tourism Development in Ukraine” will help rural tourism homestead owners take a step toward a green and digital transition. The organisation will develop a practical toolkit — a Digital & Green Guide — featuring a replicable model of a green, inclusive, and digitalised homestead, as well as a training program for site owners. Other communities will also be able to benefit from the results, as information about the project will be shared with homestead and farm owners, local CSOs, local self-government bodies, businesses, and media.
• The public union “Foundation for Research on War, Conflict, Development Support, and Societal Security “Safe Ukraine 2030″” will develop and pilot a methodology for assessing territorial and business-environment security, along with a model “Community Safety Passport,” in the Zviahel and Orzhytsia communities (Zhytomyr and Poltava regions, respectively). An information campaign will help spread these tools to other communities.
• The public union “Center for Social Initiatives of the Trostianets Community” will work to expand access to social services for residents of rural starosta districts within the Trostianets community (Sumy region). A mobile team of specialists will regularly travel to remote villages to provide residents with legal, social, and psychological consultations on-site. Based on survey results, the organisation will prepare an analytical report with recommendations for local self-government bodies on improving access to public and social services.

We congratulate the winning organisations and wish them every success in implementing their planned initiatives. East Europe Foundation will continue to support its partners with consulting and organisational assistance throughout the project implementation period.