Mountain Seed Foundation

Hope, renewed sense of purpose, feeling of accomplishment, a new outlook on life, strength, reignited resilience, community, power, and love. These are the outcomes of our programs like Healing Base Camp, Mini Base Camp, and Art Healing. Your gift no matter the amount, provides these things to families affected by war. Let’s make a powerful impact together this season. #healingprogram #healingprocess #healingjourney #positivepsychology #bethelight #bethechange #nonprofit #nonprofitorganizations #supportukraine

One mother explains her feelings on the last day of Healing Base Camp Slovenia. Please listen to her words and how the week at HBC affected her perspective. These are real people, dealing with real losses, and really stressful situations. But there is HOPE for them. We just have to support them and help them rediscover it. Your donations provide that opportunity for families grappling with the devastating circumstances war has put them in. mountainseedfoundation.org #healingprogram #healingprocess #healingjourney #positivepsychology #bethelight #bethechange #nonprofit #nonprofitorganizations #supportukraine

Holiday art from our Art Healing Groups across Europe! We love to see the beautiful creations that the children make. Our Art Therapists are doing a wonderful job with their regular Art Healing sessions. We can see the impact it has on these children to have a place to be with friends, to be with people who understand not only their native language but also the circumstances of their lives, and to release some stress while having fun. Please enjoy their holiday themed creations! #arttherapy #artprogram #arthealing #healingprocess #supportukraine #holidayart

The Climb Continues… Following our latest Healing Base Camp in Slovenia, our therapists Alla & Yulia could sense the desire and need for continuing to work through challenges once our families returned home. Since then, they have been offering online webinars for our mothers to continue the mental health support for in the months following their return to their daily lives. 
These webinars have been very successful in the continuation of learning and conversations. We are thankful to Alla & Yulia for meeting a need where they saw one. 

Your continued support allows us to make these opportunities available for our families. Thank you for contributing to improved mental health for these families. The positive impact will affect generations to come. #MentalHealthMatters #MentalHealthAwareness #mentalhealthsupport #goldstarfamilies #supportukraine #nonprofitorganizations #nonprofit #healingprocess

Visiting our Mini Base Camp climbing program in Lviv. This program has been working continuously to provide a community, physical exercise, confidence building, and psychological support to military families in the Lviv region. It is completely free for military families to take part. We work with our partner organization in Lviv, Vector of Hope, to run this program and Vector of Hope was founded by one of our previous Healing Base Camp families. The children spend time doing warmups and climbing at the indoor gym while mothers have the opportunity to meet with a psychologist to discuss various topics. The sessions are led by psychologist Svitlana Onoshko, who applies techniques from positive psychology. Our own Dr. Amit conducted webinars for some of our partner Ukrainian psychologists, promoting the use of positive psychology techniques that have proven effective in healing camps. It's great to be able to see these programs thriving and providing so much for Ukrainian military families on a regular basis. You can read more about our Mini Base Camp programs here: https://lnkd.in/exAfYrMh

We would like to officially welcome our newest addition to our therapy team for Healing Base Camps-Alla! Born into a military family in Potsdam, Germany, she moved to Ukraine at the age of five. Her professional experience began after she received a master’s degree in practical psychology. She worked for 15 years as a clinical psychologist in the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Collaboration with the Pompidou Group of the Council of Europe started in 2008, where she implemented a range of projects within penal institutions in Ukraine. Since the first Russian invasion, she has worked with the Israel Trauma Coalition to establish resilience centers in Mariupol and Severodonetsk. She is an expert with extensive experience in providing counseling and treatment to high-risk populations. She has delivered psychosocial and clinical interventions to both adults and adolescents in clinical and community settings. Alla has been an invaluable addition to our team of therapists and her dedication to the families of Healing Base Camp is incredible to witness. Thank you Alla for officially joining our MSF team, we are thrilled you are here!

It’s not only the physical peaks, but also the mental ones. On International Mountain Day we want to express our gratitude for the healing power of mountains. It’s hard to explain but anyone who has spent time in the mountains knows the beauty and the sense of peace that surrounds you. Our program is built around the ability to conquer mountains, not just the actual summit but also the emotional mountains. Those are the harder mountains to climb. Our participants push themselves beyond their comfortability and find a whole new view on the other side. To find out more about our healing programs for families affected by war, go to mountainseedfoundation.org #internationalmountainday #mountainclimbing #mountaintherapy #mountain #healingthroughnature #healingbasecamp #healingprogram #healingjourney #nonprofit #nonprofitorganizations

A couple weeks ago, our team got the best gift. A lovely video message from one of our 2024 Healing Base Camp families and a letter describing the impact HBC had for them: "When I heard about climbing for the first time I was doubting in my own abilities. Uncertainty captivated my mind because of the serious injury and the physical condition of my body I was unable even to think about climbing. But I was excited with the picturesque beauty of the mountain peaks and Alla's great motivation ( who was our psychologist) helped me to lift the ban from my thoughts. I completely trusted my instructors Nathan and Cosmin so I decided to try. I was sure that each step towards my goal, gave me the confidence in myself. And after five days of the rehabilitation course I felt myself much better, anxiety has gone, sleep paralysis that bothered me after the injury has gone too. I became more peaceful and balanced. It's no doubt that everything is possible. The main thing for all of us is to believe in yourself and to have strong motivation. Thanks to Mountain Seed Foundation I acquainted with wonderful people and make new friends, by the way I still communicate with them." Nothing makes us happier than hearing from our families again and seeing how they have been affected by their experience with our programs. Sending love out to all of our HBC families. You’re all in our hearts everyday!

Our staff's favorite hat is back! If you ask anyone on the team, they will tell you this hat is the softest and most comfortable hat. It's so good that we had to bring it back one more time! Order yours before Dec. 16 and you'll have a brand new hat and way to represent MSF in the new year 🥳 Don't forget that the proceeds of this hat sale go directly to funding our healing programs like the new climbing site in Ukraine, Healing Base Camps, on-going Mini Base Camps in Lviv and Cherkasy, and our regular Art Healing programs across Europe. Look good and feel good! https://lnkd.in/euxcq6M4

In November, members of our team traveled to Lviv, Ukraine to continue important partnerships, make new connections, and see some familiar faces. Dmytro Mykhalets, a veteran who participated in our 2024 Healing Base Camp, is an advisor to the Mayor of Lviv on veteran affairs. After visiting our camp, he was deeply impressed by the results and repeatedly invited us to Lviv. He hopes that our foundation can share its experience and implement similar programs across Ukraine. He gave us a tour of the UNBROKEN Ukraine rehabilitation center and hospital, where we also met Oleh Berezyuk, the Head of Psychological Direction and Psychosocial Rehabilitation. One of the most inspiring moments was visiting the art therapy room for patients. Two Ukrainian veterans regularly attend these sessions, and their work has become truly professional. These sessions are held in a shelter located in the basement, and art therapy is in high demand at this rehabilitation center. Following that our team visited the Center for veterans (veterans' office) under patronage of the Lviv city administration. Here, services will be provided for psychological rehabilitation and social adaptation, legal and informational assistance, as well as various social events.  Finally a meeting was held at the City State Administration with Deputy Mayor Andrii Moskalenko. We discussed future collaboration on supporting veterans and their families. We are grateful to be able to make these connections and form partnerships with likeminded organizations. Together, we can help bring healing programs to more people who are so in need of the support. #supportukraine #nonprofitorganizations #nonprofit #veteransrehabilitation #arttherapy #healingprogram #healingprocess