This year marked the second annual Good People Event at Helsinki Missio, continuing the tradition of celebrating our volunteers' work on the Refufin project. The event was even bigger this year, bringing together volunteers, the House of Helsinki team, board members, close partners, and steering group members, all united in commitment for our cause of making Finland a welcoming home for people fleeing the war in Ukraine.
We kicked off the event by reflecting on our achievements over the past year, including the successful completion of 452 support cases by our volunteers within just the first five months of 2024! We talked about the values that drive House of Helsinki and Refufin, and listened to an inspiring speech from our board member Brix Ziemann. Several volunteers shared heartfelt stories about their journeys in Finland and their experiences volunteering with Refufin. We also held a Mentimeter quiz to test everyone’s knowledge about House of Helsinki and Refufin, throughout which we shared behind-the-scenes details about our history. Our dedicated volunteer Maria Godunova was the winner of the quiz!
The culinary highlights included delicious traditional pirozhki hand pies made by Ilya Kudriakov, one of our volunteers, and a cake by Anastasia Abramchuk, whom our volunteers helped to get to Finland on our volunteer bus back in 2022.
Wishing to capture the event from various perspectives, we invited our guests to use the POV app, so that we could see this day through the eyes of all our guests.
To emphasize the impact of our volunteers’ efforts, we gave out small printed booklets containing feedback from people arriving from Ukraine who have benefitted from our project. We hope that these booklets serve as a reminder to our volunteers of the difference they continue to make in the lives of others.
“Every answer, every translation, every meeting helps people to feel that they are not alone in a new country and to know that they always have someone to turn to. Thank you for being with us!” – House of Helsinki team
Thank you to all who participated and made this event a memorable one! We are excited to continue our work together, striving for a future where everyone can feel supported and connected.
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