Grants

Helpers Aid Fund

The Fund was established in October 2021 in response to the dramatic situation of refugees brought by the Lukashenko regime to the Polish-Belarusian border and pushed out of Poland by border guards in violation of their rights and dignity and with a serious threat to their health and lives. It offers assistance to civil society organisations and grass-root initiatives carrying out relief, rescue and intervention activities on the Polish-Belarusian border, as well as organisations providing support to refugees and migrants kept in the centres for foreigners in Poland.

Grants are made to organisations and informal groups that:

provide direct humanitarian, medical and legal assistance to refugees on the Polish-Belarusian border, as well as to persons staying in the centres for foreigners
conduct information campaigns in local communities on the rights of people who seek protection and asylum as well as the rights of Polish citizens to offer them aid
monitor the situation at the Polish-Belarusian border and the conditions in the centres for foreigners, document and publicise incidents of violation of Polish and international law and the abuses of human rights by representatives of public authorities and state functionaries, conduct advocacy activities at the local, national and international level to protect human rights.

Grants of up to PLN 50,000 (and in the case of informal groups up to PLN 4,000), can be used for:

the costs related to the conduct of assistance activities, including the purchase of necessary equipment and resources for the staff, catering, transport, accommodation, communications, salaries and fees,
administrative costs, including rent, utilities, accounting, etc.
psychological and psychotherapeutic support for those involved in providing assistance (post-traumatic stress, burnout, support groups),
all other costs related to the activity.

Grant funds may be spent from the moment of signing of the grant contract until 31 December 2022. In justified cases, costs incurred before the grant award can be also reimbursed.

Applications are received on an on-going basis.

Contact: [email protected]

For Donors

We invite individual, institutional and corporates donors to contribute to the Help the Helpers Fund. Donations can be paid:

via wire transfer 74 1030 1016 0000 0000 6145 0029 marked as „Help the Helper Fund”
online on our website.

Inquiries about donations: [email protected]

2022

Białystok and Supraśl Group
Subsidising the purchase of food, winter clothes, thermos flasks, torches, heaters for activists and refugees in the forest. PLN 4,000

Egala Association, Bialystok
“Social Archive of the Humanitarian Crisis” – building public awareness and sensitivity to the situation related to the humanitarian crisis on the Polish-Belarusian border: conducting and disseminating research, organizing monthly seminars, producing webinars and podcasts, website, promotional activities. PLN 29,750

Egala Association, Bialystok
Activities supporting people on the move, migrants and refugees in the Polish-Belarusian border region, both in intervention and humanitarian aid in the forest as well as in hospitals and guarded centres. PLN 50,000

Group under Walizka Foundation, Sanok
Support activities for refugees at the Polish-Belarusian border and in Guarded Centres for Foreigners. Costs of travel to Podlasie and legal, psychological and material support for detainees in Wędrzyn and Przemyśl. PLN 4,000

Halina Nieć Legal Aid Center, Kraków
Legal aid for asylum-seekers in open centers, persons in the return procedure in guarded centers, and foreigners applying for international protection in Poland as part of the Safe Home project. PLN 38,400

Mova Association – language without barriers, Warsaw
Translation for refugees in need (face-to-face and remote), translation assistance in centres for foreigners and hospitals. PLN 36,000

Nature and Culture House Association, Teremiski
Running a permanent place for volunteers and local activists from Białowieża, Hajnówka and the Białowieża Forest region, as well as a warehouse with donations for refugees, heating the building, covering the costs of supplies, transport and coordination. PLN 49,000

No Border Group, Czeremcha, Nurzec Stacja
Costs of repairing the car and minor repairs at the site of activist meetings, purchase of thermal imaging equipment for rescuing people in the forest. PLN 4000

Our Imaginarium Association, Żyrardów
Organisation of the Borderland Crisis Forum: support and counselling for local governments from the state of emergency zone, information activities for residents of municipalities in Podlasie. PLN 5,500

Polish Hospitality Foundation, Warsaw
Running a Crisis Intervention Point in Podlasie, purchase of fuel, tickets, food, personal protective equipment for activists, workshops for volunteers and Polish language course for refugees in the Guarded Center for Foreigners in Białystok. PLN 50,000

Siemiatycze Group, Siemiatycze
Running a warehouse with in-kind donations for refugees, retrofitting costs. PLN 4,000

„Tere Warehouse” Group, Teremiski
Running a warehouse with in-kind donations for refugees, retrofitting costs. PLN 4,000

2021

Catholic Intelligentsia Club, Warsaw
Purchase of equipment for people providing aid to migrants and bookkeeping for the Crisis Intervention Centre on the Polish-Belarusian border. PLN 5,200

Free Word Zone Foundation, Warsaw
Co-ordination of volunteers in-kind help for refugees in the vicinity of Augustów and Sejny, counselling support for people involved in the project: residents, activists. PLN 30,000

Group from Narewka
Costs of transport of activists, purchase of thermal imaging equipment to rescue migrants in the forest. PLN 4,000

Group from Suprasl
Cost of transport and thermal clothing for activists, purchase of medicine and food rations for migrants in the forest. PLN 4,000

Halina Nieć Legal Aid Centre, Krakow
Co-ordination of the Centre’s work and support for volunteers in County Hajnówka, on-duty lawyer. PLN 30,000

Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights, Warsaw
Legal aid, psychological assistance and translation services for foreigners in guarded centres and those who attempt to apply for international protection in Poland immediately upon crossing the Belarusian-Polish border. PLN 30,000

Homo Faber Association, Lublin
Psychological assistance and crisis intervention, training, co-ordination of volunteers, collections of essentials, field and technical teams at the border, crisis communication management during intense interventions. PLN 30,000

Lower Silesian Women’s Congress Association, Wroclaw
Purchase and transport of aid packages to the border, storage of collected gifts, arranging accommodation for activists. PLN 30,000

No Borders, Group, Warsaw
Meetings with a psychotraumatologist for activists and others on the border. PLN 4,000

Nomada Association for the Integration of Multicultural Society, Wroclaw
Co-ordination of activities to support refugee families, legal support for attorneys working at the border, monitoring and documenting developments at the border, legal support for asylum seekers, purchase of clothing and equipment, team transportation and supervision costs. PLN 30,000

Polish Migration Forum Foundation, Izabelin
Counselling support for people in Guarded Centres for Foreigners, translation, monitoring, advocacy and networking activities, purchase of equipment, counselling support for the team. PLN 30,000

RegenerAction Foundation, Szczawnica
Psychological and intervention support for activists at the border: permanent on-line service, on-site services, stress relief treatment, supervision. PLN 30,000

Rights Equator Foundation Group, Wroclaw
The cost of transporting people participating in the ‘Mothers to the Border. Forest Is No Place for Children”. PLN 4,000

Salvation Foundation, Warsaw
Purchase of warm clothing (jackets, thermoactive clothing and boots) for the Foundation volunteers and staff assisting migrants on the Polish-Belarusian border. PLN 30,000

Ucieleśnienie [Embodiment] Collective, Hajnówka
Counselling support for individuals who actively help migrants on the Polish-Belarusian border. PLN 4,000

[email protected]