OTB FOUNDATION ACTIVATES IMMEDIATELY FOR UKRAINE EMERGENCY

Since the outbreak of the conflict, the OTB Foundation is fully committed to initiatives created ad hoc for the needs generated by the emergency of the Ukrainian conflict.

The Foundation was the first to welcome the urgent UNHCR appeal to support people and families forced to flee within national borders and to neighboring countries: With the help of the OTB Foundation, UNHCR was able to provide the first direct financial support to families on the run to help them meet the most urgent needs.

After this first important collaboration, the Foundation get active directly from Italy.

Starting from the organization of buses that depart to Ukraine loaded with medicines and other medical supplies and return to Italy with women and minors on board, until the first health reception, given the pandemic situation, with a first stop at the vaccine hub of OTB Foundation to make the first screening with rapid antigen-tests. The organization of the possible quarantine period for Covid19 positive, inside hotels at the beginning and then with the restoration of a closed hospital in Asiago used for use, are activities that have also been part of the management of health care.

After the first reception, the Foundation has planned activities for the real reception of refugees, acting as an intermediary between them and the various bodies proposed, in the identification of safe housing (apartments and entire buildings) that then associated with the various cooperatives have become “Extraordinary Reception Centres” so that each of the beneficiaries can be included in the extraordinary welcome project set up by the Ministry of the Interior.

To date, the OTB Foundation has welcomed 446 Ukrainian refugees fleeing the war.

In order not to leave these people alone, also long-term integration activities such as job profiling and integration into the world of work, the identification of recreational/sports activities for children, and their inclusion in kindergartens and schools are fundamental activities that the Foundation is managing.

Together with the OTB Group, the Foundation is now engaged in a long-term job placement project for Ukrainian refugees: it is the first project of its kind in the fashion sector in Italy. The program was launched after a complete mapping by the OTB Foundation of the professional profiles of people welcomed in the past months, mostly women with children, and provides for the inclusion of the first 20 women (aged 20 to 45 years) who have already obtained a residence permit in Italy, and have given their willingness to participate in the project. Their children, on the other hand, were immediately inserted in local kindergartens and schools to complete the school year, and in summer camps for the summer.

The work path will start from a formative internship and will offer those who decide to stay in our country the possibility of long-term recruitment in areas such as administration and accounting, purchasing offices, style, graphics, and general services. The OTB Group is also encouraging the creation of synergies with local businesses in the search for additional job opportunities and the inclusion of other refugees.

At the same time the Foundation doesn’t stop helping the Ukrainian population straight on the spot: either directly by sending material to conflict zones, both by relying on partners who are operational where the situation is hottest. In fact, there are about a thousand families who, thanks to the support of the OTB Foundation and Fondazione Zegna, are receiving aid in Odesa, Dnipro, Kramatorsk, and Kyiv. Cesvi is delivering them products such as sheets, pillows, warm blankets; space hygiene kits, and baby hygiene kits, such as soaps, diapers, baby wipes, talcum powder, and moisturizer.