Help Center for Foreigners

The Help Center for Foreigners in Warsaw (HCF) is a place where thousands of people from several dozen countries can obtain help and find a safe, friendly space.

If you are a foreigner seeking assistance, please go to the page for foreigners: centrum.ocalenie.org.pl

The Help Center for Foreigners’ Mission

The Polish government does not do enough to integrate migrants into society. There are no national integration systems in place, thanks to which immigrants could safely build a stable future in Poland: learn Polish, adapt to the job market, easily rent an apartment, find the appropriate school for their children or obtain help in their native language in a crisis situation.

Ocalenie Foundation has been responding to these needs since 2004 to the best of our abilities, via the Help Center for Foreigners. Our clients are refugees, immigrants, repatriates and asylum seekers living in Warsaw and surrounding areas. Among them are also residents of the immigrant centers in Targowek, Debak and Linin. Undocumented immigrants also receive help from the HCF.

The HCF is a remarkable place found in Warsaw. We speak and help in 10 languages – you can hear Arabic, English, Georgian, Hebrew, Persian, Polish, Russian, Tajik, Ukrainian and Vietnamese being spoken here. Our team of 15 amazing and involved people includes 6 cultural mentors (from 6 different countries!), 3 lawyers, a social worker, a psychologist, a child psychotherapist, a Polish language class coordinator, and an in-kind support coordinator.

The scope of our srevices

Thanks to the amazing HCF team, we handle a wide range of issues:

We help with day to day issues – these issues become problems for people who speak very little Polish or for those who encounter discrimination: we help out with government office visits, look for rooms or apartments, we sign children up for preschool and school, fill out applications and claim forms, and write formal documents and requests,
We provide translators for public administration, school and hospital visits,
We help write resumes and look for work,
We provide legal assistance: we help obtain legal status, international protection, and fight against unfair employers,
We offer psychological support and talk therapy for trauma survivors and PTSD sufferers,
We provide free Polish language classes for adults,
We guide children and youth in choosing extracurricular and cultural activities,
We provide crisis support (housing, food, clothing, medicine),
We distribute essential items (clothing, cosmetics and hygiene products, supplies for children, school supplies, furniture, kitchen and home appliances)
We organize integration and cultural events for Warsaw residents, both Polish and immigrant.

We work together with other Warsaw social service centers, other NGOs, informal groups and institutions involved with helping and supporting immigrant integration in Warsaw.

We provide also a professional assistance for victimes of tortures. More information: Help Center for Victims of Tortures