One of the Gofore Impact Foundation beneficiaries is a non-profit called Nicehearts who run an immigrant volunteer network called Neighborhood Mothers, to help relocating mothers settle in Finland and have a peer support network.
Thanks to the 15,000 euro grant from the foundation, Neighborhood Mothers are now about to take a digital leap to enhance the network, starting with service design and resulting in a new website for the volunteer network.
– Our network is constantly expanding, and a lot goes on, which is why we need a clear homebase where everyone can easily participate. We organize a lot of events, training and support, and want to make everything better accessible and to enable the network itself to independently maintain and develop the community, says Director of Neighborhood Mothers, Anni Susineva.
Until now, the network has had various WhatsApp groups and social media channels like Instagram and Facebook, but no website. There is no full-time communication expert in the core team of five.
Established in 2001, Nicehearts promotes girl’s and women’s rights and an equal society. In addition to Neighborhood Mothers, Nicehearts runs a counseling service, community houses for girls, women and their communities, and many other activities in several cities in Finland. Basic funding comes from wellbeing service counties and local municipalities, as well as the Finnish Funding Centre of Social Welfare and Health Organizations.
Meaningful volunteering for all parties
The Neighborhood Mothers volunteer activities for women who have moved to Finland were started in 2016. Neighborhood Mothers are trained volunteers with integration experience. They can support women who have moved to Finland with their own experiences. The training includes e.g. information about the Finnish society and an introduction to volunteer work.
Neighborhood Mothers also have an impact on the development of local immigrant services. They have, for example, given opinions on the integration services in the city of Espoo near Helsinki.
Nearly 600 Neighborhood Mothers have been trained so far, with about 50-60 volunteers in the network annually, and 60-70 new ones trained each year. The work can be very meaningful for both the volunteer and the ones they support.
– The volunteers can use their own skills and expertise in doing volunteering, which can be important, as entering the job market in a foreign country can be hard. They also provide one-on-one support, such as help find services like healthcare and other support in different life situations, Susineva explains.
Finding joy in a community
The project that will result in a new digital homebase for the network in early 2025, has already kicked off with a service design workshop. This has not only help build the website but also clarified the overall Neighborhood Mothers processes and activities to enable growing the network in a controlled manner.
– There are hundreds of people needing help. There is a demand for both assistance and especially for community activities. To be able to scale everything to match this need, we needed clarity, focus and the digital leap, Susineva stresses.
– The impact of this relatively small grant and expert help is huge to us. From 2025 on, our activities will be even more high-quality and impactful. Our volunteers will feel an even stronger belonging to the community, run it independently in their areas and make support accessible to more and more recently moved women in Finland. With peer support, their loneliness decreases, they settle in the country faster, they find a community and experience joy, she concludes.
The Foundation is excited to see how the network is doing after the leap!
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