Construction of an Estonian family-style small group homes
Rebuilding Ukraine
- Eesti Välisministeerium
- ESTDEV
Project objectives
Estonia is building four family-style small group homes in Ukraine to house large foster families who have taken in children orphaned by the war.
At least 80 small group homes have been destroyed in the war. Although the families have moved to safer areas in Ukraine, they live without a fixed address. Currently, there are more than 1,300 small group homes in Ukraine, and each houses 5-10 orphans. According to the Olena Zelenska Foundation, 40 of these foster families have an acute need for new housing.
Actions and results
The first home is being built according to the Olena Zelenska Foundation’s “Room for Childhood” initiative.
To aid with scaling the initiative, Estonia will build three additional houses in the city of Zhytomyr. The Estonian International Development Cooperation Center (ESTDEV) organised an architectural competition together with the Estonian Architects’ Union and the Ministry of Culture and the HATA design by architectural firm DAGOpen was chosen as the winner out of 17 plans submitted to the architectural competition to find a standard design for the small group houses.
The winning design stands out for using Estonian best practices in space creation, small group home housing design, and construction. Their design features a 212-square-metre house with seven bedrooms and four bathrooms, plus a bomb shelter near the house. The construction will start in 2024.
In addition to building new houses, Estonia supports Ukraine in training foster parents and building an inclusive social welfare system.
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Contacts
Nurgakivi asetamine Eesti perekodule Ukrainas
