The Vrba Foundation, which helps widowed families, has received a donation of 200,000 CZK from the city of Prague. The donation is earmarked for “Meetings under the Vrba tree,” extended weekend getaways for widowed parents and their children.
“Every year, 36,000 mothers or fathers are widowed in our republic, and they often remain alone with their children in these difficult times,” said Deputy Mayor for Health and Social Care Alexandra Udženija (ODS) in a press release. “The grief, stress, anxiety, isolation, loneliness, financial problems, and other aspects that Vrběnky helps widowed families face from the Vrba Foundation. I thank everyone who helps and my colleagues on the Council who approved my proposal for a 200,000 CZK donation so that this help will work this year as well.”
The extended weekends include themed workshops, self-help groups, and therapeutic support. The workshops aim to help widowed families and are focused on essential topics that families often face and can help alleviate. They mainly include financial literacy, parenting skills, and legal awareness. Group or individual therapies, artistic and physical workshops, self-help groups, and animation programs for children will be available.
“Meetings under the Vrba tree are weekend wellness events that support widowed families with children. Families are provided space for relaxation, actively spending free time, and gaining new necessary strengths. They can share their stories with others, and they can learn new knowledge and skills during seminars and workshops. At seminars and workshops, an expert on the chosen topic is always present and processes the given issue for the needs of the widowed. During the courses and seminars, animation programs led by experienced lecturers are available for children,” says the Vrba Foundation’s website about the “Meetings under the Vrba tree” project.
The Vrba Foundation was founded in 2016 and helps widowed families in the Czech Republic. Since its founding, the Foundation has helped over four hundred incomplete families. On its website, among other things, it states that according to statistics from the Czech Statistical Office from 2022, there are 36,492 widowers and widows under 55 in the Czech Republic.
“The Vrba Foundation represents a functioning system of help to this disadvantaged and neglected group of society in the issue of financial and legal counseling, psychotherapeutic services, and household assistance,” the website further states. “We want to point out a large group of people in difficult situations and how to bring them back to a different but still life. Our goal is to improve widowed families’ mental and physical condition in the long term based on our partial projects.”