Donate to the Ukrainian Orphan Project

Neufeld Institute’s Support for Ukraine’s Family Care for Orphans Initiative

We were deeply honoured and significantly moved when we received a formal invitation, in December 2022, from the City of Kyiv to help train and support their social workers as they work to prepare families to welcome orphans into their homes from Ukraine’s system of orphanages. Thanks to the generous initial round of donations from Neufeld Institute contacts and friends, we were able to create a dream team and immediately got to work developing curriculum and translating materials in order to answer the call. We are pleased to report that our training is being gratefully and enthusiastically received. As a result, this timely project is expanding to other regions in the Ukraine and more recently to the national level as well. We are uniquely positioned to make a significant difference in the lives of tens of thousands of children who have lost the ones who were meant to take care of them. This project however is in considerable need of additional financial support for the continued and expanded training. We appreciate tremendously your financial assistance as we continue to work towards transitioning the care of children from orphanages to families as well as to reduce the distressing impact of the war on the children of Ukraine.

Donate to the Ukrainian Orphan Project

Donations of $25 or more receive a Canadian charitable tax receipt. You may also designate how your gift is used — just add instructions in the PayPal “Add Special Instructions” field. If our mission resonates with you, we’d be deeply grateful for your support.

Thank you for helping us bring developmental science into practice — and into the lives of those who need it most.

APRIL 2025 UPDATE

We are honoured that the Neufeld Institute and Neufeld Institute Ukraine have been asked by Coordination Center for the Development of Family Upbringing and Child Care of the Ministry of Social Policy, Ukraine, to provide training for over 4,000 foster and adoptive parents. 

They wrote: “In collaboration with Neufeld Institute Ukraine, we recently conducted the Alpha Children online course for Ukrainian foster parents. The response was truly overwhelming – within a week, hundreds of parents enrolled, representing nearly 500 households that collectively provide family-based care to 2,210 children, including 1,811 adopted children. The participating parents have expressed immense appreciation for this opportunity, describing the course as deeply transformative. Many shared that the material was a revelation, helping them better understand the alpha dynamic and its potential to bring meaningful change not only within families but also in communities and society at large. Their gratitude toward the Neufeld Institute is truly heartfelt.

Currently, there are 4,033 foster households in Ukraine that could greatly benefit from continued learning and a deeper understanding of Dr. Neufeld’s groundbreaking attachment paradigm.”

We are now offering our Introduction to the Paradigm course for which 480 parents have registered.

We plan to offer Alpha Children and the introductory course twice again this year and then will offer Making Sense of Aggression and Making Sense of Anxiety. These courses are essential for caregivers raising children amidst trauma and uncertainty.  

Thanks to generous support from the Canadian Ukrainian Foundation and Temerty Foundation, we’ve covered course translations. 

To continue offering these programs, we urgently need funding to support our facilitators and cover the costs of online delivery.

Your donation — big or small — will help us reach more families, more children, and bring hope and healing where it’s needed most. Thank you for standing with Ukrainian families! 

Thank you so much for your support,
Eva de Gosztonyi, Julia Fomina and Iryna Shokur 
Neufeld Institute Ukraine