The facility, called Ukochane Dobre Miejsce - Lighthouse, aims to help both Polish and displaced Ukrainian children.
It was established in partnership with UNICEF and the US State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees, and Migration, Polish state news agency PAP reported.
Located in a revamped historic building at 34 Pogonowskiego St. near the city centre, the facility offers therapeutic, educational and social support for foster families, children and youth.
It is operated by the Łódź-based DobroDzieje Się Foundation.
According to foundation head Agnieszka Nowicka, more than 2,000 children in Łódź are currently living in foster care or adoptive homes.
“This is a place for children who need trauma treatment, psychotherapy, sensory integration therapy, art therapy, physiotherapy and rehabilitation,” Nowicka said.
"Our beneficiaries have gone through extremely difficult experiences—ones many adults would struggle to endure," she added.
The centre was inspired by a similar facility in the eastern city of Biała Podlaska, created as part of the UNICEF-supported Lighthouse Project in cooperation with the Ukochani Foundation, run by actress Magdalena Różczka, and the Jedno Serce Foster Care Association.
The launch in Łódź was supported by a PLN 460,000 (USD 126,000) donation raised by local Rotary Club members, the PAP news agency reported.
Helping displaced Ukrainian children
Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, more than 48,000 unaccompanied or separated Ukrainian children have arrived in Poland, placing significant strain on the country’s foster care system, said Nona Zicherman of UNICEF’s Refugee Response Office in Poland.
UNICEF has assisted local governments in recruiting and training new foster families, particularly for displaced Ukrainian children.
The Lighthouse Project aims to provide comprehensive services to foster families, including psychological support, medical consultations, trauma therapy, legal advice and community integration.
Łódź is now the second city in Poland to host a Lighthouse-model centre.
'Well-developed practices should be shared': gov't official
Deputy Family Minister Aleksandra Gajewska, who attended the opening ceremony last Monday, said the initiative would serve as a model for a nationwide system of foster support centres.
"We want every region of Poland to have at least one such centre co-funded from EU coffers," Gajewska said. “Well-developed practices should be shared across the country."
She added that her ministry was working on legal reforms to improve support for both biological and foster families, including long-term investment in centres like the one in Łódź.
'No foster family will be left on their own'
Every year, some 400 children enter foster care in Łódź, and the city needs over 100 new foster families annually, said Piotr Rydzewski, head of the city’s Administrative Centre for Foster Care.
With UNICEF's help, dozens of Ukrainian children have been placed with Ukrainian foster families in Łódź, according to officials.
"In many cities, we simply encourage adults to consider opening their homes to children," said Różczka. "But here in Łódź, we can promise that no foster family will be left on their own. If a crisis arises, they’ll know exactly where to turn."
Magdalena Różczka. Photo: PAP/Łukasz Gągulski
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Source: PAP