New Hope Center

26/02/2026

Zaporizhzhia is under constant attack — day and night!

Keep Zaporizhzhia in your hearts 😔💙
STAY WITH US 🫂

13/02/2026

🥹🙏

In Ukraine, MCC partner New Hope Center is providing a safe space for children to talk, play and process their emotions of living in the stress of war.💛

Children’s emotions also are intensified by the war, says Kateryna*, a psychologist at New Hope who offers individual and group therapy for children. “If they had some issues with, for example, anger, the war increased this problem, so it makes everything worse. If you have some anxiety, it increases their anxiety.”

To help the children learn to cope, she teaches them about emotions and engages them in activities where they can express their feelings.

One tool she and other leaders can use is a sensory room that children can explore through free play. It has soft furniture, a ball pit and massaging mats. Teachers can control sounds, music and lighting.

“Maybe his body is blocked because of loud noises and is very tense. The exercise and games they play help him relax his body,” Kateryna says.

Or the opposite can be true, she says. If the kid comes and he is hyperactive, he can jump there and release some of his energy. Dance music, whether somatic or energetic, teaches the children to match their movements to the emotion of the song.

Giving the children a safe place to be active, to relax, to create, to express feelings and to have simple conversations about the future builds resilience in the face of war and gives them new positive memories, Kateryna says. “Some kids, I actually am amazed how they are strong.”

*Last name withheld for security reasons

Photo courtesy of New Hope Center

03/02/2026

Women's art therapy "WAVE" with texture paste 🌊

"WAVE" is about:
🌊 inner state
🌊 emotions that can be experienced without words
🌊 support among women
🌊 a moment of silence for yourself
🌊 and a picture that stays with you as a symbol of your inner process

Such art therapy classes inspire even those who have never held a brush in their hands. There is no right or wrong here. Here we are - the real us ☺️

🫶Thanks to our partners, women have the opportunity to recover through creativity - thank you! Mennonite Central Committee - MCC Mennonite Central Committee - MCC

17/01/2026

🙏

"Some of our New Hope team left for other countries or western Ukraine for safety reasons when the full-fledged war started. Most have now returned, saying, 'We want to be home and continue working with you.'"

Meet Maxym*, director of MCC partner New Hope Center in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine. Read his story on our website at https://mcc.org/our-stories/first-person-maxym

Full name not used for security reasons.

03/11/2025

Children's space of creativity and self-expression - ART CLUB for children 6-12 years old. This is a place where children learn to understand their emotions.
Children who live in wartime are mentally older than their physical age.

They know what anxiety, separation and silence after the siren are.
We try to help children to feel peace through creativity. The art heals, inspires and returns childhood ❤️‍🩹

✔️Our specialists are art therapist, psychologist Kateryna Danilevska and her assistant in working with children and art therapy, Yulia Vinetska.

We are thankful to our friends and partners for the opportunity to offer support to families in difficult times 🙏Mennonite Central Committee - MCCe (MCC), Multiply Network

26/10/2025

26/10/2025

🐥We would like to introduce the youngest group at the New Hope Center - classes for kids aged 3-5.

The little ones learn about play, creativity, and discovery, which is very important for their age, with the help of our professionals 😍
Psychologist Lyubov and volunteer Kara - thank you for your love and support for kids 🩷

🫶We are grateful to our partners for their support. We appreciate everyone who prays for the New Hope Center 🙏

30/07/2025

Tean Team CAMP - it was WOW! 💥
Two days only, but felt like it lasted the whole summer!
🚣‍♂️ Kayaks, sun, water and laughter
🍕 Pizza, movie and encouraging company
🌊 Games, fun, water and relaxation in the new place.
We are glad that so many new incredible teenagers joined us for the camp!
We are thankful to those who came and brought friends.
Together we build great at atmosphere of receiving and cheering for one another 🙌
The moments like these will be saved not only on photos but in our hearts! 🫶
We are thankful to our friends and partners for supporting this ministry. It's a worthy investment into the new generation of Ukraine!

23/07/2025

A small miracle happened in the village of Petropil - we visited a contact zoo "AQUAZOO" with parents and kids who attend New Hope Center therapeutic classes 🦆
⠀
For many of the children, this was the first meeting with animals, which they were able to pat and feed as they learned some interesting facts about them in the "Animal Train", which moved around the zoo.
Smiles, sparkle in the eyes, enthusiastic exclamations from children - our goal was met! 😻
⠀
And also mothers. Strong, tired, but moved. For them, this is not just a day of rest. This is a moment when they could feel part of a healing community where you are understood, supported and cared for.
⠀
🫶 Such trips are support for those who really need it. We are thankful to all who support New Hope Center ministry in Zaporizhya and hope to be able to provide more of such opportunities for families to heal and restore.

22/07/2025

We spent a warm, bright day with parents and kids, who attend New Hope Center, at the Svitlana Kulbashnaya Landscape Park 🌿🌸

During war time, such moments are especially valuable - when children run, laugh, look for clues in a quest, and parents can finally breathe a sigh of relief, be in a supporting community 💞

Walking, doing crafts, having sincere conversations, enjoying a delicious lunch - all this became a reminder that life goes on. And we have the right to have joy, even now. We are thankful to every family who joined us for helping us to create atmosphere of grace, support, acceptance and freedom. It was more than just a day in a park - it was a breath of peace in the middle of the storm 💚

18/07/2025

The same day we chose ourselves… 🌿

We invited women, who attended therapeutic classes, to a hike-walk through the picturesque places of Khortytsia Island, Zaporizhia 🌳🪵

Women who so often postpone their dreams “for later” got together and went on a short hike along the trails of Khortitsa.
We listened to wise stories of a local historian, touched nature with our hands and hearts — and as if remembered what it was like: to breathe deeply and feel alive. This several-hour route became a personal step towards healing and restoring inner harmony for each of us. We simply allowed ourselves to be — without haste, without the burden of cruel everyday life in Zaporizhia 😌🌼

🌱 Such moments remind us: we are not alone. There are other women in the community around who understand, support and are ready to walk alongside — and not only along the trails of nature, but also in life.

💙 We are thankful to all who support our ministry in Zaporizhya and hope to organize more hikes this summer. Please, pray for Zaporizhya.

🔹 New Hope Center, Zaporizhya, Ukraine 🔸