The Municipal Support Centre for Internally Displaced Persons in Lviv, which has been operating for four years, has become the first point of contact for many Ukrainians after being forced to relocate because of the war. During this time, specialists have provided almost 32,000 individual consultations to people seeking refuge in the Lviv community.
The Centre operates on the premises of the Lychakiv Administrative Services Centre at 67 Kostia Levytskoho Street and is part of the structure of the Social Support Centre of the Lviv City Council. Its main function from the very beginning has been to promptly provide internally displaced persons with reliable information and advisory support without the need for a prior appointment.
“Behind each of these 32,000 consultations stands a specific person, their anxieties and their need to find an answer to an important life question. Our key task as a municipal structure is to provide people with a clear course of action, to guide them through the services and programmes available in the community, so that they are not left alone with uncertainty. Over four years of work, this information centre has proved its effectiveness, becoming a reliable bridge between forcibly displaced Ukrainians and municipal services,” said Volodymyr Holovatyi
As noted by the Social Support Centre, at the beginning of the full-scale war most enquiries concerned basic and urgent needs: finding temporary housing, receiving humanitarian aid, and accessing priority social services. Over time, the nature of the requests has changed – people increasingly need support with long-term adaptation.
Today, visitors mainly seek help with legal and social issues. Among the most common topics are the restoration and processing of documents, access to social protection, clarification regarding local and state housing programmes, interaction with the city's specialised institutions, as well as finding employment opportunities.
The Centre emphasises that an important outcome of its work is not only the number of consultations, but also the changes in the lives of those who have used its services. Specialists note that feedback from visitors helps to improve working approaches and respond more effectively to the needs of internally displaced persons.
The Municipal Support Centre for Internally Displaced Persons is located at: Lviv, 67 Kostia Levytskoho Street (premises of the Lychakiv Administrative Services Centre). Opening hours: Monday–Thursday from 09:00 to 18:00, Friday from 09:00 to 16:00, Saturday and Sunday – closed.