Municipalities of the Ivano-Frankivsk region are committed to expanding the housing options for internally displaced persons.

With the consulting support of U-LEAD with Europe experts, the Kosiv municipality won a grant for the construction of a shelter for IDPs.

Since the beginning of the war, the Kosiv municipality has taken in about 9,000 internally displaced persons. There are nine social shelters operating in the municipality that provide IDPs with everything they need, including three free meals a day. As the number of IDPs decreased, it was decided to create one large shelter that could accommodate all IDPs in need.

The team of the Regional Office of U-LEAD in the Ivano-Frankivsk region organised several consultation meetings for representatives of the Kosiv municipality, featuring Ihor Melnychuk, External Expert of U-LEAD with Europe.

“We had several meetings with representatives of the Kosiv municipality where they voiced their ideas and proposals. Many foundations now focus on helping internally displaced persons. After discussing the ideas and studying the available projects, we decided on the project to submit. The project application was prepared together with municipal officials and members of the initiative group. In the end, the Kosiv municipality was among the winners. We will continue to work with the municipality on new projects in the future,” said Ihor Melnychuk.

As part of the project, the Kosiv municipality received some plumbing equipment such as water heaters, sinks, toilets, shower cubicles, electric heaters, etc.

The shelter can accommodate up to 200 people at a time. The premises are being refurbished, including the living rooms, kitchen, bathrooms, etc.

“It was very important for us to create a new social shelter and take the pressure off other municipal facilities. We decided to arrange the social housing in a building that used to be a school. We would not have been able to purchase all the equipment with the budget funds, so this project helped us a lot. We are grateful to U-LEAD experts for their consulting support and assistance in preparing the project application, which won the competition,” said Iryna Dimbrovska, Chief Specialist of the Promotion, Outreach and Economic Development Department of the Kosiv City Council.