Being Kind: Edvantis To Support a New Community Center Project

At Edvantis, we believe that small acts of kindness can create a major sustainable ripple effect, spanning over generations.

That’s why we are happy to announce our new social partnership with people who share our beliefs and commitment — the “Anna-Mariya” charity foundation, in charge of the “Sotsialʹna Komora” Community Help Center.

Launched by a family who had to personally overcome grief — the loss of their child — “Anna-Mariya” is dedicated to helping vulnerable families and abandoned children gain the support and resources they need. Since 2016, the foundation has already helped over 4,000 people with food and clothing donations, charitable contributions, and volunteer-led classes/consulting sessions.

“Sotsial’na Komora” is their newer project, backed by Lviv city council and a number of other benefactors, including Edvantis.

What is “Sotsial’na Komora”?

In 2019, the foundation received an affordable communal property for organizing a new community center. Since then, the team has been actively working on renovating the premises and turning the abandoned building into a modern, free, impactful center — “Sotsial’na Komora”.

Their ultimate vision is to create a safe space that the local families can attend to gain the support, education, and resources they need to break away from the poverty cycle. 

Key initiatives:

• Secure a better future for abandoned kids. Unfortunately, only 10% of state boarding school graduates fully integrate into society. Up to 20% may have issues with the law. Therefore, the center will be partnering with several orphanages and boarding schools to provide their wards with counseling, educational, and development classes. 
• Prevent abandonment in the first place. 90+% of children in the state boarding schools have parents or guardians, who unfortunately cannot take proper care of them. The goal is to proactively work with such families. So that they can receive the support and resources they need to nurture kids at home. 
• Turn “consumerism” into “mutual aid”. Rather than merely giving away material support, the center’s goal is to develop ongoing relationships with troubled families and kids. So that they could have a safety net to fall back on whenever they need guidance and support of any kind.
• Provide a bigger picture. By popularizing the volunteering movement, they want to increase the levels of engagement both among local residents, businesses, and people in need. This could foster long-lasting community change and prevent exclusion and negativity towards already vulnerable and ostracized society members.

The ultimate goal: Provide help to 30,000 people in the next 10 years.

Read more about the “Sotsial’na Komora” project (in Ukrainian).

How Edvantis is Helping Drive Community Changes

In 2020, our leadership decided to join the initiative. We’ve sponsored renovations of several rooms, plus set up a new computer class for kids and adults. Our company deeply believes in the success of this project. We are personally acquainted with the family, behind the foundation, and can vouch for their deep commitment and integrity! 

So far, our company purchased all the furniture and will be donating 15 “pre-loved” computers to the class. Moreover, we: 

• Set up a company-wide donation scheme for employees, wishing to support the initiative.
• Plan to dispatch volunteers to teach “hour of code” classes at the new center.
• Encourage our people to donate their time and skills to the good cause by participating in training sessions and expert meetups, hosted for kids.
• Will keep contributing to “food bank” and “clothes bank” schemes. 

After all, being kind isn’t hard. Sometimes you need just one good deed to change someone’s life. Let’s drive the community change together!