Many women's shelters have too few resources to needs of children and young people to meet the demands of everyday life.
Thanks to the donated funds from the FHK children's fund However, in 2024 and 2025, a total of 110 special projects for children in women's shelters were implemented in 76 women's and children's shelters from the FHK member associations.
A few practical examples show how diverse the projects were:
A women's shelter used the fund to implement forest education: A forest educator conducted 16 sessions in the forest – children explored nature, became creative with natural materials and thus experienced self-efficacy.
The forest as a place offers both vastness and tranquility – both important experiences for children who live in cramped conditions and often associate noise and confinement with danger. The children themselves contributed ideas and wishes in weekly children's meetings – participation as part of the educational concept.
In another women's shelter, the fund enabled a riding therapy project, supervised by a qualified riding therapist. Once a week, children met at a nearby riding stable – not for competitive riding, but for the experience of riding.
The horse's movements, the care of the animals, and the peaceful atmosphere of the farm helped traumatized children build trust, reduce anxiety, and rediscover their body awareness. For children who often arrive at the women's shelter distrustful and emotionally burdened, this place was a space free from performance pressure, where self-confidence could grow naturally.
First holiday & children's yoga
In another women's shelter, the FHK Children's Fund offered the opportunity to provide regular children's yoga sessions led by a certified children's yoga instructor. Traumatic experiences often manifest physically in children – as tension, sleep problems, or a loss of connection to their own bodies.
Yoga gives children back tools: through movement and breathing exercises, they learn to be mindful of their bodies. This approach also reaches children with speech or cognitive impairments who benefit less from purely talk-based programs.
And finally, the FHK Children's Fund enabled an organization to arrange a holiday camp, which was the first vacation of their lives for some of the children from the women's shelter. Together with their mothers, they enjoyed excursions to a climbing park, a swimming pool, or through nature.
What appears to be a simple outing has deep meaning: shared, carefree memories that strengthen the mother-child bond and show the children that life can also be easy. The children had previously brought their own ideas for the short break – a night hike, swimming, adventures – and seeing them implemented gave them an extra boost.
Children's fund exhausted
All the funded projects together make an important contribution: child protection and empowerment are given more space in the daily life of women's shelters.
Currently, all donation funds for the "RTL Foundation - We Help Children" have been claimed and no further funds are available for applications.
We thank the “RTL Foundation – We help children“as well as all staff members and women’s shelters who do not lose sight of the children and have implemented projects by and for children in women’s shelters.”
Photo: Pexels/Vladimir Srajber
Quality recommendations
Current women's shelter statistics
