About us

Our (short) story

February 2022

On 24 February, Vladimir Putin launched a brutal invasion of Ukraine. The following day, Patrycjusz Gaweł - a local property developer from Yaroslavl - gathered a group of friends to try and provide shelter for refugees. This group of volunteers quickly evolved into a registered charity, the Unitatem Foundation - which we call Poland Welcomes in English. Soon we were offering shelter to hundreds of Ukrainian women and children.

June 2022

Within the first 3 months, we began operating 3 large shelter buildings - in Jaroslaw, Radymno and Boratyn, all near the border with Ukraine in south-eastern Poland. We established a partnership with Compass Group to provide daily hot meals to our Ukrainian guests - and a partnership with the International Organisation for Migration, a UN agency. Nearly 1,000 refugees have taken refuge with us.

November 2022

We now have more than 20 staff, a monthly turnover in excess of US$100,000 and supportive donors across Europe and the US. However, UNHCR estimates that up to 750,000 more refugees will flee to Poland from Ukraine during the harsh winter months. Poland Welcomes wants to increase the number of beds from 700 to 1,300, but our funding is not sustainable. If possible, please donate so that we can continue to do our vital work.