MiniGrant:
Trip to SPA and meetings of a support group for mothers-immigrants raising children with disabilities

“We deal with self-advocacy: although we are a group of women exposed to discrimination and marginalization, we do not want to remain only in the role of recipients of services”

About the group

The Patchwork Association consists of immigrant mothers raising children with disabilities and a facilitator and special educator, who supports them. They come from Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia.
The experience of the members of the association are the challenges associated, on the one hand, with living in a foreign country, and on the other – with being the mother of a child with disabilities. Due to language restrictions, they are also less likely to receive support than Polish-speaking parents.
As self-advocates, Patchwork members know what their needs are and what the everyday life of women in their situation looks like. Therefore, they want to support each other and other mothers in maintaining good health, coping with stress, and preventing burnout. The support group has been operating for 2 years, at the moment it is also running a support chat for mothers in a similar situation – 143 people already use it.

“These activities will have a direct impact on our psychological, physical, and emotional state as mothers-immigrants raising children and adolescents with disabilities”

About the action

The group decided to organize an outgoing psychological training in a SPA for 11 women from the initiative group. The training will be followed by a series of 10 support group meetings. All meetings are planned in the narrative approach, as a group of mutual support with soft moderation. They will be led by a facilitator, a member of the group.

Grant amount: PLN 4 890
Photograph from the group’s own materials