At the beginning of March, volunteers of Ukrainian Voices RC received news that shocked many of them. One of the projects they had been working on – the community centre – is now under threat of closure. The reason is familiar to many social initiatives in Brussels: the termination of public funding.
This could mean the loss of the eight-storey building at Rue de la Loi 89, home to Ukrainian Voices RC, and with it the end of all the activities currently held in its many well-equipped spaces.
For the people who dedicate their time and energy to the centre every day, the possibility of losing a place they built together has been deeply painful. Over the past years, the organisation has created a strong and vibrant structure through collective effort:
• 300 volunteers
• 90 staff members
• 3 shelters
• representatives of 62 nationalities
• dozens of Ukrainians under temporary protection who have found employment
• hundreds of integration, educational, and creative programmes for children and adults
Yet behind these numbers are, above all, people and their personal stories.
A Place of Recovery and New Opportunities
When Oksana arrived in Brussels from Ukraine, she was struggling with severe depression. At first, she came to the Ukrainian Voices RC community centre to attend psychological support groups, as well as yoga and fitness classes, in an effort to regain her strength. Over time, she became a volunteer herself and began teaching dance classes.
“Recently, not only Ukrainian women have been coming to my classes. I’m learning French, so I invite my classmates, and they invite their friends. They often tell me they had never been to organisations like this or taken part in activities like these before – simply because they couldn’t afford it. They came from other countries as well and don’t have the means to attend gym classes. Here everything is free. And most importantly, everyone is welcomed with an open heart.”
Theatre That Brings Cultures Together
The centre is also home to creative initiatives. One of them is a theatre group led by volunteer Cecilia. Anyone who speaks French – or is just beginning to learn it – is welcome to join.
“Among our performers there are Belgians, Chinese, Jews – people of many different nationalities. They cherish this opportunity and always look forward to meeting here at the centre. They don’t yet know that it might close, but I think they will be very sad. Our theatre created its performances here, we staged them here, and it means a lot because we were warmly welcomed.”
More Than Just a Building
Over the past few years, Ukrainian Voices RC has grown into an open multicultural space where people from many countries come together – to meet, support one another, and create new shared initiatives.
Closing the centre would mean more than losing a physical location. It would dismantle an effective integration model that currently helps ease the burden on Brussels’ municipal and state services. It would also mean losing a proven support system that could be scaled and replicated in other communities.
If no alternative solution is found, the centre’s last day of operation will be 31 March. The team at Ukrainian Voices RC continues to search for ways to preserve the community centre’s work or to adapt its activities in a new format.
