About Us
We run shelters in and around Jarosław, Poland. They provide the best possible quality of life for hundreds of Ukrainian refugee women and children
Our (short) story
February 2022
Vladimir Putin launched his brutal invasion of Ukrainian on 24 February. The following day, Patrycjusz GaweÅ‚ – a local property developer in Jaroslaw, Poland – gathered a group of friends to try and offer refugees shelter. That band of volunteers quickly became a registered charity, Fundacja Unitatem – which, in English, we call Poland Welcomes. We were soon offering shelter to hundreds of Ukrainian women and children.
In our first 3 months, we started running 3 big shelter buildings – in JarosÅ‚aw, Radymno and Boratyn, all close to the Ukrainian border in south-eastern Poland. Volunteers fixed bathrooms, painted walls and built bunk beds. We formed a partnership with Compass Group to provide daily hot meals to our Ukrainian guests – and a supportive partnership with International Organization for Migration, an agency of the UN. Nearly 1,000 refugees took shelter with us.
June 2022
We now have more than 20 staff, a monthly turnover of over US$100,000, and supportive donors all over Europe and the US. But UNHCR estimates that up to 750,000 more refugees will flee to Poland from Ukraine in the harsh winter months. Poland Welcomes wants to scale up from 700 to 1,300 beds – but our funding is not secure. If you can, please donate so that we can continue to do our vital work.
November 2022
By the
Numbers
20+
People employed
The Poland Welcomes Team
Our board of directors
Patrycjusz
Gaweł
Founder and President
Patryk is the driving force behind Poland Welcomes. He is a native of Jarosław, where he runs his own business as a housing developer. Patryk is a former national Polish shooting champion, has 16 dogs, and still lives with his mum.
Kamil
Prusinowski
Vice-President
Kamil is Patryk's best friend from high school. He works in Warsaw for the British insurance company Aviva, where he runs a competence centre. Bilingual in Polish and English, Kamil is the lynchpin of our operations.
Gabriela Gaweł
Board member
Maciej Gumiński
Board member
Paweł Szczepanik
Board member
Our Team
Neil
Midgley
Director of Communications
Katarzyna
Kubas
Administrator
Anna Przednowek
Director of Operations
Maria Nakonechna
Psychologist
Agnieszka Walczak
Shelter Manager
Kasia Bubelska-Gorlińska
Shelter Manager