The Voices for Voices Podcast Episode 34 with Guest, Mother's House Coordinator Anna Urszula Kłos
Welcome to the Voices for Voices podcast sponsored by Redwood Living
thank you for joining us today I am Justin Alan Hayes founder and
executive director of Voices for Voices host and humanitarian
you can learn more about Voices for Voices on our Instagram Facebook YouTube
and our website voicesforvoices.org Voices for Voices is a 501c3 non-profit
charity organization that survives solely on donations so if you're able to
please consider heading over to voicesforvoices.org to help us continue
our mission in the goal and the dream to help three billion people over the
course of my lifetime and Beyond or you can also send a donation to the
mailing address of Voices for Voices at 2388 Beckett Circle that's in Stow Ohio
USA 44224. Are you or someone you know looking for a volunteer opportunity we'd
love to hear from you please reach out today via email at president@voicesforvoices.org I founded Voices for Voices to provide a
platform for folks to share their stories with others as we work to break
the stigma around mental health accessibility and disabilities helping get people the help they need
while also helping them prepare or transition into the workforce with the
Voices for Voices Career Center where we connect Talent with opportunity
for job Seekers and employers from coast to coast and in every industry in job
level today we are thrilled to welcome Anna Klos
to the Voices for Voices podcast from 4,500 miles away in Warsaw Poland
so for our audience our listeners our viewers our readers I just want to give
a little bit of background how I have come to this point to connect and
and meet with Anna so last year last June our organization was able to
travel to Warsaw Poland to deliver some
humanitarian Aid to some of the Ukrainians who are fleeing from the
aggression from Russia and so in that visit I was
able to have a translator Marta Rzeznik
and she was able to speak or was able she is able to speak Ukrainian
Russian, Polish and English and
so with her help at the first stop at the convention center of
delivering some supplies we were able to come in attacked with an individual who
we had with our with us here today who has a private residence who uh
in this private residence is for homes with for mothers with small
children all from all from Ukraine and so this is
actually the first time I'm meeting Anna kind of face to face virtually uh
through again through the translator that I was gracious to have on the
visit we were able to take one of the mothers to one of the local
grocery stores get some groceries and uh
and be able to help in in that way and since returning from Poland
continuing to want to support Anna her Mission her vision for her
home for mothers and small children and hopefully I say this correctly Dom Matt
key I think that's in Polish which I think you can correct me on
exactly what that means and how that that came about so today I am so
happy so thrilled to be able to be talking face to face virtually and
have for our audience our viewers our listeners our readers not only here in Northeast Ohio in the United States uh
and Warsaw Poland and across the world the honest story and what she's
done she's a true humanitarian and it's nothing short
of amazing so with that thank you for joining us today on the voices for
voices podcast on said that I'm very honored to be here
and thank you so much for evening me uh
it's especially important for us that it's not house it's really home and it's not my
private project I'm a coordinator but it's a project of a lot of uh
private companies and Foundations to the most important in this is a compound
called Provident which is our mind donor they donate money for all house
employees and everything for a technical
issues and foundation in Snapchat which is a foundation which uh
provide logistic and something like this and we work with many other
companies Foundation government institution because we believe that uh
any single project can heal the situation this has to
be of a lot of people and a lot of foundation in common because only
together we can oversee with the situation, and we start our work like
place a safe place for mothers with newborn pregnant women but for now we
work for many more people because in first few months we have to focus
on our place to make this the best place for this woman but after this we start
to think that our hearts are to be to help only these small almonds for people
because our home is only for 12 families because it have to be small because
my children and pregnant women need calm and place without a lot of people so we
decide that this almonds will be safe and comfortable for them but you know
any people which we help wants to help as many as they can and it was with us
so we decided we start to think what we can do and we decide that a lot of
people give us products for newborns but we have only a few newborns and things
we have for at least 100 newborns so we start a program with starts to
give starter sets for pregnant women and wonders of newborns which don't live in
our bags which live in a hollow or so and beginning we give one to a few but
after a few months now we give 100 packages like this every month so it's a
lot of people which really need the kind of help and we have some sponsors which
give us battles and products for newborns and Scottish people made a
collection for us and come to us with a lot of other products and
we might events on our district in Warsaw to collect clothes for newborns
and we do this like this but after this we start to think that we can do more
because this works so we can invent next idea and first what we did we start to
think like I said in the beginning that the most important is to make
something like sharing information and sharing products
to don't waste anything because you know sometimes donors give us a lot of one
kind of product with short term and it can be too much for our people
which live at our home but it's a lot of another place which need
this at the same time so we start to contact with other points in Warsaw and
near to also and at this time we share products like
clothes like vegetables with thirteen people thirteen points in Warsaw and in in our
district so it's a lot of people which can take this help for us
after this we start to think that we can do more yeah you know like it's you do
something and when it works you start to think after next things so we had uh
200 reports before because in Poland at 6th of December is uh
Nicolas day and it's a time when children receive presence so we start
to think that we have these plus toys and we haven't children as men to give
this and we put advertisement on our Facebook that we have this plush toys
and we can give this to Ukrainian mother which need presents for their children
and you know we are not in the middle of our city and
coming to us is a kind of barrier because we have a problem with public
transport in this area but 70 people come to us for only this one plus toy so
we start to think that they really need help if they decide to long journey only
for this small kind of presence so we contact with some Partners organization
of us and we decide to make this event again at
11 11 of December which was a Ukrainian
version of Saint Nicholas Day and we decide to catch with food with hygiene
with present for children and with present for mothers because very
important for us in our work is to remember that mothers are really
important in this not only about healthy children because the mothers need to
protect their children and to do this they have to feel strong and safe and
and important in everything of this so we decided that giving present of
mothers is this small kind of giving him giving them this kind of being important
and we had two hundred of packages and holiday I
spent in our little magazine decide what we can do more because a few hundreds of
people come to us and we decided nobody can live without present yeah so we did
this new packages in the time when people come and this day we give
1100 pennies and it was absolutely a cosmic almond
for us because it's so many it was so many people at
our guide and they spent literally for a package of noodles or rice, and it was
horrible for me because it means that this people who has a really hard
situation and it was a very nice day from other side because a lot of mothers
know about this event not from us but from partner organization and from for
from government institution which we inform about this and they didn't know that we give presents from others so a
lot of time they have tears in eyes and
tell us that it's really nice from us and it's really touching for them
that they receive present for their and it you know I felt that what we do is
really important this time because we can help with products with food with
hygiene but nothing is more important than the feeling of being important in this
and we start to make this for a woman
sorry it's my child yeah you're okay this is awesome this is great it's
part of my story because when war starts I can't
seat and my coach and watching this in TV because I have two small children at my home and I can't imagine what
I should do in this situation so I decided I have to do everything to help
these people and I have a very a lot of luck because I find found company which
fought about this like me and we decided to do this together
yeah so how does it make you feel like you know sitting back and I know
you can't really you know sit back and look at things from you know a plane's view of what all you've accomplished and
and with your partners and somewhat of a short shorter period of time how does
that like emotionally make you feel when you help another mother another child get a give a present you know
work on getting I mean I saw a couple of months ago, and you know getting lights installed on the street so the so
they would feel you know things like that I mean those are important things that you know even here in the United States you know we might we take a lot
of stuff for granted and like when you have things like that that go on how
does it how does it make you feel I guess
it's a lot and of course you know you prepare action and you have a lot of
work you are really tired and after this you see these people their children
you see that your work make real difference it's not like you know in
shop I really love shops and workers at shop but you it's nothing to compare
because at this you saw that lives these people make better because of
your work and after this you feel you can feel exhausted but you are happy and
it's I have no words for this because if you know if you have children it's
like when your first time see your children and you realize that their life
are in your hands and it's something like this because you see that you make
something which gives the people which has real problem they have in homes
haven't they can't really because it's war in Ukraine their lives
are at least a bit better because of you and your
work yeah thank you for answering that and that's how I felt when I
first arrived at I called the convention center large building the in Warsaw I know there's a couple
different ones I think and when I first arrived with Marta and seeing just a couple bags with
you know one person I just can't imagine what it just as an individual what
that'd be like whatever amount of time if you have an hour if you have a day a week the plan it's like okay take
something that you can travel with like what do you what do you pick and I
just can't okay a lot of people can't choose what
they take because they haven't this possibility because they come from for
example destroyed building who have one of our mothers come from her house
but she can do this only before only because her daughter woke her up earlier
than normal and she won't break so when they was in a kitchen in their part of
building the part of building with her room was Freud so she come back only
with this doctor and only we both left from her life
it's and we have we have other perspective
for this because most of points in Poland has people with for only for a
few days so they come find another place and go but because we have a place for
pregnant woman and woman with newborns we decide that they don't eat rice for a
few days they need place for least few months to accommodate here and
get birth or children grow some and
we decide that we should be placed for at least one year so our mothers are a
long time
okay my children can't agree what to do with Deutsch
okay and we decide that these mothers need her help for a long time okay we'll
be alone on vision
yeah, oh great yeah no it's it I
mean it fits right in I mean that you're you are humanitarian and you have
I'm the mother yeah and learn work with me at mother's home okay are always
together though yeah so we decide that this kind of woman
needs a really long-term help so our mothers are with us for at least few
months they can live in our place for one year from get birth on one year if
they come with Pilgrim okay so they are like family for their self and
for me because I know everything about demands if about a problem with that
patient and you know it's other perspective but this group of people are really have
problem because you know pregnant women are only pregnant so they having social
help for children because in legal way they haven't children they are only pregnant and you know working in
advanced pregnancy is really hard and if you don't know a language of pantry when
you come it's impossible to work in two or three months of pregnancy so they
have it one night they can't have stopped apartment and it's uh
absolutely challenging situation for this so we
decide help of this group of people and it's why we
make this kind of pulse for example which our house is
completely I have problem with this word
not fixed but uh
I volunteer from omakam program it's
our main donor program of social uh
social something like Social Work volunteer program and they did this only
in three weeks so it was very quick and
I noticed people and they was really devoted to this and after this I come
and start to make from house home and now we have a lot of help from this
program from other foundation and we work in this place
in other way in that in order that in other that in other places
because we can work about learning them polish because we have three times that
week lessons for our woman and we can help them in Psychology
psychological way because you know if we have them seven days per week we can
supply some activities which need
time and which needs stability so we can help them in in all whole picture yeah
yeah, one area I was really Blown Away with just from being a U.S
citizen and I think just assuming things and just not just going to a
foreign country so just traveling and in a way not sure like how people are
sometimes you travel places and people are nice sometimes they're not and I was just blown away by the Polish people
in in your cell and when Martha told me the
story that her husband doesn't like dogs
and but when somebody came to her attention that needed help in a place to
stay overnight because they were going to catch a train the next day and in
this individual they had a dog, and she called her husband and spoke
you know I really would like to help out they're going to catch a train or a bus tomorrow
they're you know they can we have them stay but they have a dog and she said that her husband he lightened
up and was just so helpful and wanting to just help the person as a
human being as an individual and I'm not saying that people here in the United States wouldn't do that
but I was just blown away of how there's a problem and there needs to be somebody
to help and that situation arises and it was she didn't think twice about it and
and you didn't think twice about what you're doing it's like okay we're doing this but now we can do a little bit more
and then a little bit more but it's not about being nice or bad or bad
being it's when you see that people are dying
at your borders and start of being and haven't blankets and warmer
clothes it's you don't think about this because we all are human and these people need
our helps and for now for hours Polish people it
was very touching because we not me
because I'm too young but we were in the situation in beginning of second war
because we haven't placed to go, and it was
absolutely horrible for us and take a
lot of people with this so I remember all of this from my
grandma stories and a lot of people remember this from other stories and you
know we can't let this be again, so we are only human
and I believe that you know when it's a when War come to other place at whole
world every people will do the same what we do because it's
you know it's easier when it is on other part of all from work but Ukrainian
people have the same culture like us the languages are very similar so a lot of
people which come to problems don't know Polish language but we can speak that we
speak Polish and they speak Ukrainian and it's okay maybe sometimes we have
problem but we can't communicate like this they have the same holidays like
us and they are close for us because of this cultural clothing so I think it
was a normal situation the Polish people are not angels we are very arguing
nature but in the front of uh
humanitarian problem like this we sorry it's okay
but I believe that in humanitarian prices like this we can't do anything
other than what we do, and I was really
touched to see how many people in Poland can help and how united we was in this
because it was believed I'm in our new history
but the location was I really need this
yeah, yeah it I just again I'm just I'm just
I'm Blown Away well what you your partners how that
help and helping on I mean it's a big scale you start with a smaller amount and then it
grows and then people hear about it, and it just continues to okay how are we going to how are we going to grow or
how are we going to help this this pregnant mother and with the
children and just being in that position to have the partners I think has that been one of the helpful
things because I think here in the U.S of trying you know if the situation comes up of how it might be difficult to kind
of bring people at organizations together and get everybody kind of March into the same tune of okay we're all
going to do these three things and then after these three things we're going to do these three things was that was that
easy with getting everybody to kind of go at the same speed and towards the
same goals yeah, my chives [Music]
at all I said that it's natural because
I believe that a lot of people has this in their hand, and they like to help they
like to do good things and they only need for someone to show their this way
and we start to do this and we start infect people with our ideas
because you know when you hear this it starts to be obvious we have to be
together we have to do something to help people which has the hardest situation
and when you hear this it's natural that you want to do this and a lot of
organizations start to think the same that it's important we are only people
so what is really neat in this
now in [Music] which one is Max Villa and now we start
the new Pro program because we realized that food help in Poland is
on a really low level and a lot of time it takes a lot of time to stand in uh
cure to wait for a few products and you
know mothers in pregnant and mothers in with newborns can do this because
pregnant women can't stand on bad weather a few hours and mothers with
newborns too because they have to place to feed children to change diapers and
it's make that a lot of help points are not
are impossible to their to their come to these places so we decide that we start
a program with giving food bags for especially this
and aspects you want for packages and come only specific for this hour to
avoid standing and waiting and like this because they really need help but this
helping have to be thinking about their conditions and their
possibilities yeah oh my gosh yeah, I and our time is
just about I everything you're saying is just so just how your mind
works is it is amazing so how can people get in touch and help out
the best way to help us for now is of course donate money it's very important
because for now we need money for buying food for this lab program and we have
very nice course of changing currency and something which costs the one dollar
for example in United States cost 20 of this price in Poland so we can buy more
in the for the same money so this is very important for us and
give us opportunity to help more people because for example One packages we
fought it's about 40 Slaughter it's about ten dollars so every ten dollars
with this gift for us let us opportunity to help one mother
two yeah oh my gosh yeah is there anything we missed or didn't then to
our conversation today
no it's okay we'll be able to get that worked out so yeah I just
wanted to thank you for everything you're doing invite me to do this it's very important
for us and I'm very happy that I can speak about this to people at work yeah
absolutely so I'll close out and then we'll get a couple pictures and then
I'll let you go with your done with your evening I go to buy products for first events
it's just starting because you know my husband work a day
so I work at evenings and now it's
seven pm in Poland so my husband come to come to house and I going to go
great well thank you for joining us today on the Voices for Voices podcast we again we're absolutely thrilled
that we're able to bring on a class today to you
whichever way that reaches you whether that's audio whether that's through the television through YouTube through the
transcripts and please reach out to Anna's
organization, Dom Matki and hopefully this conversation was it was helpful it
was helpful to me and I just grateful and thankful to be able to bring this
to kind of Northeast Ohio area as well as across the United States and
really the world with our are falling on LinkedIn so thank you for joining us
on the Voices for Voices podcast this is founder humanitarian host an
executive director of Voices for Voices Justin Alan Hayes I hope you have a
momentous day and please be a voice for yourself and someone in need
[Music] [Applause] [Music]
thank you
Please donate to Voices for Voices, a 501c3 nonprofit charity today at: https://www.voicesforvoices.org/shop/p/donate
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