YOUkraine
INDEPENDENT PROFESSIONALS AND VOLUNTEERS
FROM THE CZECH REPUBLIC AND ABROAD
About Us
The YOUkraine initiative unites independent professionals and volunteers from the Czech Republic as well as from abroad. We provide legal and psychological support, translation and interpreting services, and relocation and social services to those affected by the war in Ukraine. We aim to mitigate the difficulty of the victims’ life situations by providing them with the fastest and most efficient professional help possible for free.
Due to the complexity of the issue, we are aware of the need to cooperate with governmental, non-profit and other entities. We have thus joined forces and started cooperating closely with the team of the HLADKY.LEGAL law firm, which – in association with other entities – is currently preparing a migration project. Our teams will thus be supporting one another.
Our Services free of charge
The YOUkraine initiative offers its capacities with respect to the following areas:
Legal support
- Immigration and legal support prior to leaving Ukraine and assistance with arranging all matters to ensure the lawfulness of residence in the Czech Republic
- Legal support in other areas (e.g. civil law, etc.)
- Involvement of experts and academic professionals in dealing with complex legal matters and the process of changes to legislation
Psychological and psychotherapeutical support
- Professional help provided by psychologists and psychotherapists
Translation and interpreting services
- Translation of documents required for immigration and other residence-related proceedings
- Interpreting of communication with authorities
Relocation and social services
- Coordination of volunteers, assistance with solving day-to-day situations arising during the adaptation to life in the Czech Republic
- Coordination of recruiters and HR specialists for the purposes of mediating contact with specialists who will be able to help Ukrainian citizens to find a job in the Czech Republic
- Identification of required financial and material aid (enabling the connection to charities and other initiatives providing material aid).
Our Team
The YOUkraine initiative unites over 100 volunteers with expertise in various fields. All members speak Czech as well as the languages stated in their profiles.
Our key members, responsible for the individual teams, include:
Main coordinator & Legal section
Veronika Plešková
Veronika is the project initiator and an attorney-at-law specialised, among other things, in immigration law. She is the main coordinator of the YOUkraine initiative and the person responsible for the Legal section.
Prior to starting her own practice (VP LEGAL), she worked for the largest Czech-Slovak law firm for over 11 years. Veronika is fluent in English and German. In her free time, besides her other hobbies, she volunteers as a prison social worker.
Legal section
Matěj Kračmer
Along with Veronika, Matěj coordinates the distribution of legal aid requests among the individual volunteers – attorneys-at-law and other legal professionals. Matěj is familiar with the YOUkraine topic from the Department of Asylum and Migration Policy of the Ministry of the Interior. He currently works at the Regional Court in Plzeň. Matěj spends his free time studying and teaching and cooperates with various institutions, such as the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime or Bez trestu. Matěj speaks English and Russian.
Expert team, Legal section
Veronika and Maxim Tomoszek
Veronika and Maxim Tomoszek teach law at the Faculty of Law at Palacký University Olomouc. For over 15 years, they have been active in the area of clinical legal education, i.e. free legal assistance provided by law school students, and in the integration of skills and values in legal education in the Czech as well as international context. Veronika is specialised in the field of environmental law and administrative law; Maxim focuses on constitutional law and human rights. Within the YOUkraine project, they coordinate the expert legal support in dealing with complex legal issues, in the preparation of legislation changes or elaboration of analytical documentation. They are also involved in the coordination of international legal cooperation. Veronika speaks English; Max speaks English, Polish and Russian.
Social area
Monika Kupcová
Since Monika has both an education background and work experience in social work, she takes care of Ukrainian citizens precisely in this area. She monitors their needs as well as the offers of volunteers who join our initiative. Monika speaks English.
Psychological and psychotherapeutical support
Věra Šimonová
Věra has experience in multiple fields. She used to work in the HR area, but now she works as an expert editor at a publishing house. Besides that, she is a certified psychotherapist. Věra speaks English, German and Russian.
Translator & Interpreter
Jakub Jurenka
Jakub is an experienced freelance translator and interpreter (Czech, English and German). Within our YOUkraine team, he makes sure that Ukrainian citizens are able to communicate in the new environment easily.
PR & Web
Ivana Kočíková
Ivana graduated from the Czech Technical University in Prague. She works in the IT area and is the founder and manager at Tlustá čára, an art group where, besides her own creative activities, she deals with the topic of prison service, homelessness, and other social projects. As part of the YOUkraine team, Ivana takes care of promotion, volunteer coordination, and the introduction of new kinds of collaboration.
PR a média
Barbora Černošková
Bára works a presenter for Czech Television and is also a kind ambassador of prison-related projects. Within the YOUkraine initiative, she helps us ensure that the availability of free assistance is communicated among as many Ukrainian citizens as possible. Bára speaks English.