My name is Yuliia Polyvka, and around 17 years ago, as a student, I started volunteering journey with YMCA. From the very beginning, YMCA inspired me as an organization that serves people worldwide and creates a significant impact within local communities.
Over the years, my YMCA volunteer experiences in Ukraine, as well as in countries like Canada, China, and the USA, have transformed me as an individual, fostering cross-cultural communication skills and intercultural competencies that have greatly benefited my career. Participating in programs like Youth Peace Network by YMCA Vancouver, Change Agent by YMCA World, and Roots for Peace by YMCA Europe opened doors to the vast YMCA family worldwide.
Through these programs, I established meaningful connections with different YMCAs and individuals who eventually became lifelong friends and family. These volunteer experiences and program involvements ignited a desire within me to contribute to the development of YMCA in Kyiv, starting new projects and programs. What began as a small group of four dedicated volunteers has grown into a thriving and sustainable organization. Today, YMCA Kyiv operates with a dedicated staff members and volunteers, numbering approximately 60.
My journey within YMCA has been multifaceted, starting from a volunteer role and progressing to become the General Manager and a board member of YMCA Kyiv. Along the way, I have gained valuable experience in supervision, coaching, interdisciplinary teamwork, and fostering effective staff and volunteer teams. From my beginnings as a volunteer, YMCA has been a catalyst for personal growth and meaningful connections across the globe.
YMCA has not only impacted my life but also the lives of countless individuals and communities, making it an organization I am proud to be a part of.
For the past five years, I have served as the General Manager of YMCA Kyiv, Ukraine, where my primary focus along with daily activities has been on fostering partnerships and ensuring the organization’s sustainability.
During the last year, I initiated projects aimed at forging long-term collaborations between YMCA Kyiv and Save the Children International, as well as YMCA Kyiv and YMCA Calgary.
In collaboration with Save the Children, our team successfully implemented two major projects centered on providing humanitarian aid and cash grants to internally displaced persons (IDPs), with a total value of 1,200,000 EUR.
The main goal of the project was to provide families with children affected by the war (local community under occupation and internally displaced people) with multi-purpose cash grants to cover their urgent needs.
Final result: 1,780 families with children (6,011 beneficiaries) affected by the war (local community under occupation and internally displaced people) benefited from multi-purpose grants that covered their urgent needs.
Within my role, I was responsible for engaging with our partners throughout the project life cycle, including project drafting, support, implementation, and evaluation. Additionally, I oversaw the coordination and was responsible for reporting of project progress to our partners.
Opening a YMCA Kyiv Safe Space
In September 2022 YMCA Kyiv with a support from YMCA Europe opened a YMCA Kyiv Space for children and youth: “Svitlo” [Facebook] [Instagram]
The Space “Svitlo” offered a wide range of different activities to youth and children who were affected by war including both Kyiv citizens as well as internally displaced to Kyiv due to the active hostilities in their native cities and towns in Ukraine.
The activities are the following:
- Group classes in art therapy
- Afterschool programs
- Preschool programs
- Summer day camps
- Theatre and Art Studio
- Communication training for youth
My role was drafting the grant application, overseen the implementation of the project, reporting to YMCA Europe, drafting the budget and overseen the money distribution within the project, supporting and consulting the team on project implementation and strategic planning for YMCA Space development.
Another crucial aspect of my work involves cultivating a strong and enduring partnership with YMCA Calgary. This entails arranging numerous meetings between the staff and board members of YMCA Kyiv and YMCA Calgary.
Through these meetings, we foster connections between team members, facilitate the exchange of knowledge regarding program implementation, and collaboratively create new programs. Working alongside YMCA Calgary’s fundraising team, I contribute to the development of a strategy for YMCA Kyiv fundraising campaign, aimed at securing resources to support the growth of YMCA Kyiv.
By Yuliia Polyvka
This article is part of “THIS IS YMCA – THIS IS US” Campaign.
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