Language courses, advice or simply cooking together: a private association is committed to helping people from Ukraine in Frankfurt. Some of the volunteers fled the war themselves.
Frankfurt/Main (dpa/lhe) - Accommodation, childcare, health care: After arriving in Germany, Ukrainian refugees are faced with numerous questions and problems. To help, volunteers from Ukraine got together and founded the Ukrainian Coordination Center (UCC) in Frankfurt. Around a hundred people are now working there on a voluntary basis to offer advice and support in Ukrainian - some have been living in Germany for some time, but most are refugees themselves.
"We're not experts, but we try to build bridges," says director Viktoriia von Rosen, describing the work. Up to 300 people come every day - and wait in a long corridor for their appointment, mainly women and children. Colorful paintings by a Ukrainian artist who has lived in Frankfurt for some time hang on the walls. The UCC is located in the building of the Office for Multicultural Affairs, several departments and offices work together there, so that all necessary processes such as application and registration can be done in one place.
Language courses and workshops are also offered, for example on how to become self-employed in Germany. Cooking together, handicraft groups for children, sport and games afternoons are also on the programme. "People shouldn't be at home or in the hotel and only read news about Ukraine," says von Rosen. The UCC came about five months ago as a spontaneous initiative. The association also sees itself as a networking platform to bring offers of help to the people who need them - and vice versa, as von Rosen says.
According to the Ministry of the Interior in Wiesbaden, the population register currently shows around 68,000 refugees from Ukraine who have found accommodation in the Hessian towns and communities. More than 11,000 Ukrainians have arrived in Frankfurt since the Russian attack on their country in February, but not all have stayed in the city. The city explained that arrivals and departures are currently leveling off.
