The initiative group: Larysa Matyukhina, Larysa Ivanisenko, NGO “Step into the World”

Where: v. Mezhova, Dnipropetrovsk region,

Result: In four joint years, the initiative group of the Mezhevskaya community has not only grown significantly and attracted youth representatives, but also won several grant projects and made a big step towards its own dream — it got to use, renovated and launched its own hub “Crocus”. This center constantly hosted various events, charity festivals and fairs, as well as the BUT (Building Ukraine Together) project.

Details of cooperation: Mezhevskaya community is located on the border of Dnipropetrovsk and Donetsk regions, among the steppes, in the agrarian region. Like many other communities near a large city, it has to compete for attractiveness in terms of jobs and leisure organization. This became a key topic of cooperation between the coordinators of the initiative group Mezhova — Larisa Matyukhina and Larisa Ivanisenko (NGO “Step into the World”), who had a great dream of a common space and rich, interesting and cultural leisure for young people

We were able to work with the community during the Dialogue in Action 2.0 and 3.0. During this period, our team of facilitators helped implement plans for developing non-formal education, community cohesion and collaboration, understanding challenges, and finding effective solutions. The community initiative group, together with its leaders, has many further dreams, like the arrangement of a sports room, a room for young children and psychological classes for mothers, a coworking hall, a social cafe, etc. During the war, they provide active assistance to the population — both humanitarian and meeting needs (psychological, legal, medical advice). By observing the active life of the community, we believe that they will be able to realize much more than was imagined in the strategic development plans of the community.