Neighbourhood Mothers is a peer supportive and empowering volunteering model for women who have moved to Finland, run by Nicehearts ry (Visit an external site. The link opens in a new tab.). The main objectives of the Neighbourhood Mothers program are to increase the participation, agency and well-being of migrant women through peer-to-peer volunteering.
Neighbourhood Mothers program creates a peer-to-peer platform for women to find their own path. Women who have completed the Neighbourhood Mothers training act as volunteers, each in their own way. Neighbourhood Mothers have lived in Finland for some time, so each volunteer is an expert on her own path to integration. This allows them to provide support to women who are still at the beginning of their integration process. Neighbourhood Mothers organise their own activities and events, help in one-to-one meetings and are happy to cooperate with other actors in the area.
Neighbourhood Mothers organise their own activities and events, help with one-to-one meetings and are happy to cooperate with other actors in the area.
Neighbourhood Mothers are united by their desire to be active and make a difference
The network of Neighbourhood Mothers is strong; over 600 trained Neighbourhood Mothers in Finland and hundreds more across Europe! Finnish Neighbourhood Mothers speak over 40 languages, have a wide range of skills, study and work experience from all over the world and life experience. They are united by their desire to be active and make a difference. Neighbourhood Mothers are enthusiastic about new knowledge and have a strong desire to acquire new skills, because they move things forward and can also help others.
Genuine agency, participation, using one’s own skills, needs-based and self-directed activities, a desire to help others, peer support, meeting, caring and influencing. This is what Neighbourhood Mothers is all about!
The values
Our values are sense of community, equality and joy, our activities are based on respectful and appreciative encounters where everyone is treated as an individual. Our community is diverse and our activities are gender and culturally sensitive.
Neighbourhood Mothers is politically and religiously non-affiliated activity.