Flower Essence Society

The Alvia Family Center in Ukraine

by Richard Katz
with Dr. Alyona Permyakova

Art therapy at the Alvia Family Center in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine

The History and Mission of the Alvia Family Center

Entrance to the Alvia Family Center

Since 2022, the Flower Essence Society has been actively working with Dr. Alyona Permyakova, a doctor of anthroposophic medicine and homeopathy. We have supplied donated flower essence formulas for her patients, particularly for families with small children.

Dr. Alyona Permyakova returned to her embattled home city of Zaporizhzhia to establish the Alvia Family Center. Zaporizhzhia is only 45 km (25 miles) from the active war front. See a map of the war in Ukraine.

This is how Dr. Permyakova describes her effort: Our center unites medicine and pedagogy. It is a comfortable and safe space where each specialist guides the way to the development and recovery of clients and patients.

A climbing wall is functioning, thanks to which muscles of hands and legs are strengthened, tension and stress are relieved, thinking and aspiration to achieve goals are developed. That will help children and teenagers not to drown in the terrible realities of their current existence.

Zaporizhzhia is a front-line city. Against this background the residents suffer a lot. Today we live through round-the-clock alarms and daily explosions from heavy strategic weapons. They claim the lives of adults and, worst of all, the lives of children who never had time to live.

Climbing wall at the Alvia Center

Learn more about the Alvia Center Social Projects

Read the brochure

“Our work formats are aimed at the comprehensive development of the child:
from physical abilities to emotional intelligence.”

Dr. Alyona Permyakova

We are facing destroyed homes, lack of finances, and lack of proper medical, psychological and social care. Most of the men went to defend their country, forced to leave their wives and children alone.

In Zaporizhzhia, children do not go to kindergartens and schools. All education moved online in 2020 due to COVID-19, and then stayed online during the war. The children suffer from lack of in-person experiences.

One of the center’s projects is “Mothers and Babies”, where small children together with their mothers receive psychological, rehabilitative , and social help. During alarms, children and parents move to the shelter of our center. Also, for teenagers, there are classes on speech and writing development. This contributes to the maintenance of literacy skills, since they do not have the opportunity at this time for full, quality education in Ukrainian schools, due to the active hostilities.

There are classes for two-year-old children born in Zaporizhzhia during the war, with lessons led by a psychologist and a teacher. There are several children in our group, some of whose fathers are at war, and the children miss them very much.

Our center has three psychologists, one teacher, three climbing coaches, and also doctors, a family doctor, a pediatrician, a gynecologist, and a rehabilitation specialist.

Our work formats are aimed at the comprehensive development of the child: from physical abilities to emotional intelligence. We combine various therapeutic approaches to ensure harmonious development and socialization. A key component is the preservation of Ukrainian culture and traditions, which are integrated into the activities. This helps children develop a sense of national identity and belonging to a community. Social games and group sessions support the formation of peer interaction skills, which are an important step toward the successful socialization of children with special needs.

Sunflower Summer Camp

Activities at the Alvia Center

Young children at the Alvia Family Center

Therapeutic play with young children

Kinder Garden is a huge support for all children in Zaporizhzhia, with sirens every day, explosions at night. For all the children to whom I gave this formula, they calmed down and had less anxiety about explosions. It has also helped them to be more attentive in learning.

— Dr. Alyona Permyakova

The Alvia Family Center celebrated their one-year anniversary on November 14, 2025, just a month after Russian shelling damaged their windows. Despite the challenges of living in the shadows of a cruel war, the center is proud of their accomplishments, which they listed as follows:

🧗 300+ training sessions at the bouldering climbing wall

👶 120+ developmental classes for kids aged 1-2.5 years

🩺 About 200 medical consultations with a family doctor and a gynecologist-endocrinologist

🎉 Two open days, attended by about 80 children

🧡 Eight free classes in children’s trauma therapy

🏅 Rock climbing competitions, attended by almost 100 children

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We persevered every day. And over the course of this year, we brought smiles to the faces of over 1,000 children in Zaporizhzhia and their parents.

The Flower Essence Society can receive your tax-deductible (USA) contributions on our website via credit card, and then we will bundle the contributions and send a bank transfer directly to Alvia.