Our interview series “Changemakers In Inclusion”

We thought it would be for a week or two, but most of them stayed.

Hanneke Vrielink, Director of Youth at Cordaan shares her experience about the importance of collaboration between Dutch and Ukrainian professionals in the field of inclusion and support during the war.

When the full scale war started, over 150 Ukrainian families — many with children and adults with disabilities — found shelter in the Netherlands thanks to the cooperation between Cordaan and SOFT tulip.

Beyond emergency response, Cordaan has supported Ukraine for 15 years in building early intervention systems that continue working even in wartime.

We don’t just help — we learn. Ukraine shows us how much is possible, even with limited resources. And that gives us hope.

I believe mutual learning is essential. Our Dutch professionals visiting Ukraine saw what it means to live and work in a context with fewer systems and more improvisation. It made us appreciate what we have. And above all, it inspired us: because even when there is little, you can still achieve so much.

Inclusion means not only building systems — but standing by each other when it matters most.

Read the full story following the link: InterviewHanneke_ENG.pdf