Sunshine Cafe, a social cafe-bakery, where people with mental disabilities work, was opened last year on the premises of Metro shopping center in Kyiv. 

The idea belongs to the founder of the NGO “Sunny People” Alina Zhivago, who has a daughter Anastasia with Down syndrome. “There are only two vocational schools in Kyiv that accept young people with mental disorders” – says Alina. Anastasia studied in one of such schools and that is where Alina met the other members of the team.

According to Alina, more than 400 children with Down syndrome are born every year. In total, 17,000 adults with this syndrome live in Ukraine, and “90% of them are unemployed.” Employers are afraid to hire such people, because they do not understand the specifics of communication and treatment with them, do not know how to work with them. Parents of adults with mental disorders do not have time for their work and for themselves, as they are constantly forced to deal with their children.

Part of the bread baked by the team is given free of charge to the people in need, as well as to the Territorial Defense and the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

This year, the team have planned to open a second cafe and employ 4-8 people with disabilities (there are 7 employees with disabilities working in the first cafe). They already found and negotiated the premises and are now buying the equipment with the grant from SCUK/Civic.

Petro Shuklinov, a Ukrainian journalist, has been a volunteer raising money for the front lines ever since 2014. When the full-scale invasion started, Petro and his team raised over 10 mln UAH to buy vehicles for the army. 

Together with his fellow journalist Mariia Ksondzyk, they have also launched a merch shop where they sell souvenirs made of destroyed russian aircraft with 85% of profit going to vehicle purchase. The idea arose from wanting to thank for all the donations and  to make something in memory of the wreckage of enemy equipment, as a symbol that the enemy’s equipment on our land is blown to pieces.

Now, the team is launching an auto repair shop where war veterans will be employed. According to the Ministry of Veteran Affairs, after the victory, the number of veterans and their families in Ukraine will be at least 10%, and they will need job opportunities and a supportive environment. This is what Nesemos will be providing for them, along with the offers of a free repair for the veterans and a community hub with various events for veteran support.

The centre provides psychological and social assistance, rehabilitation and

social adaptation of children with speech and mental development disorders, and with autism spectrum disorders.

With or without the war, the parents of children with mental disorders are looking for ways to ease the adaptation of their kids in the society. High Five is looking for a supportive and professional way to do just that.

A mother of one of the clients says her child was only talking in single words before coming to the centre and had a very hard time with teachers in her school. After a couple of months, the mother was shocked when she came back home and heard 5 full sentences from her daughter, while she also became more attentive at school. Another parent adds to this an enormous gratitude to the specialists who helped their child to become more autonomous and to develop mental abilities. 

There are tens of thankful comments like these and they all praise Mariia Lyzhnyova, the founder, and the team’s professionalism and dedication to the careful process of rehabilitation. Mariia has a BA in Clinical Psychology and an MA in General Psychology, she is a behavioural analyst and helps the parents to see the world from their child’s perspective.

Over the next 3 years, the centre plans to provide assistance to about 200 children and their families, attract new specialists, increase the area and equipment of the center, and expand the rane of services.