Munich Ukraine Aid: Authorities and volunteers cooperate better – Munich

It jerks. It rattles. And it sorts itself. These three steps summarize how the cooperation between authorities, aid organizations and thousands of volunteers has developed over the past two weeks, all united by one goal: to help the refugees from Ukraine. “Everything is on the right track,” says Petra Mühling, chairwoman of the “Munich Volunteers” association, one of the most important players. The task is daunting. According to the city, around 15,000 Ukrainians have arrived in Munich in the past ten days, without counting beforehand. About half are accommodated here for the time being, in emergency or private quarters. It is important to provide them with the essentials. At the same time, thousands of volunteers have to be coordinated, informed and used sensibly.

“It jerked a bit at the beginning,” says Petra Mühling. It was the first two weeks after the beginning of the war. Volunteers missed clear announcements from the authorities as to where and what help was needed. The authorities, in particular the government of Upper Bavaria and the city of Munich, were still swimming. One night people had to sleep on the floor in the main train station. Volunteers stood in front of closed doors in a gym, sometimes missing basics such as hygiene items.

The frustration erupted last weekend, as can be read in a tweet from the Heimatstern association, which mainly organizes relief supplies. After spending a night in an emergency shelter, Petra Lehmann asked some critical questions: “What plans were made for the coming of the people? Which office coordinated? Why is (there) no baby food? No diapers? No pillows?” Heimatstern spontaneously helped out by volunteers unloading material from a transporter that had already been packed for the trip east and distributing it to an emergency shelter.

Actors who are familiar with each other are now working together

It seems to have been a cleansing thunderstorm. Petra Lehmann and her co-activist Tilman Haerdle were on good terms with the city administration again on Monday. They sat down, talked and planned the future, they say. A few days later, Lehmann is in the best of spirits, reading this on Twitter and hearing it on the phone: “A lot has happened.” She has the impression that everyone in the authorities is making a lot of effort in coordination, communication, mediation, now the volunteers feel “heard and seen”.

Responsibility for the emergency quarters in gymnasiums and exhibition halls has passed from the fire brigade to the social department, which in turn has commissioned private operators with the operation. Actors who are familiar with each other are now working together. In the meantime, one of the Munich volunteers is on the operational staff of the social department, where the help is actually managed. Full-time structures are so important because volunteers can orientate themselves on them and close gaps in a targeted manner.

Petra Mühling from the Munich volunteers outlines the process that has now been established as an example: The association receives the information that ten volunteers are needed in a certain gym the day after tomorrow between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. to be there for the refugees, as well as ten interpreters. The association now has the names of 12,000 potential helpers in its database. You inform them about the need via newsletter, Facebook or Instagram, and ask them to put their name on a list. A helper shift was usually filled within a few hours, says Mühling. The association has routine in this mediation. He has been doing this since the so-called refugee crisis of 2015, even during the pandemic, when it was necessary to support sick people, for example.

Refugees and providers of accommodation come together in the Elisenhof

The Munich volunteers are also active in arranging private quarters for refugees. Initially, the mediation teams used the rooms of Radio Gong in Bogenhausen, but now they are located directly at the main station in the Elisenhof. There they bring refugees and providers together. Without the thousands of private accommodations, from the couch to the entire apartment, the aid system would probably have collapsed in the first few weeks, when there was a lack of large emergency accommodation such as trade fairs and gyms.

A lot has gotten better, but there is still room for improvement. Stephan Dünnwald from the Bavarian Refugee Council reminds us of this. He still sees the authorities, i.e. the state and district government as well as the city, as having a duty to provide information more quickly and in a way that is easier to understand. According to which system are refugees sent on to other cities or districts? This must be clarified between the authorities and then explained to the volunteers in such a way that they in turn can make the refugees understand it. In general, Dünnwald sees the information policy as central to the entire aid management. In the first few weeks, it was difficult for volunteers to get reliable information. For a few days there has been a special contact person for them in the social department, and Dünnwald finds that very positive.

What is still missing, says Dünnwald, is a central website on which all basic information is bundled and explained in a comprehensible way, where links to the most important offices and organizations are also provided. The urban side muenchen.de/ukraine could be such a portal, nor does it appear rather improvised. It will be updated continuously, according to the city hall.

Are there plans to send regular updates to the media and interested parties, similar to the Corona situation? You have to “first wait until structures, procedures and data have consolidated to the extent that you can assess what makes sense and what is possible”. Another important page is that of Caritas: welcome-in-muenchen.de. It wants to be the central portal for volunteers. Dünnwald is not yet enthusiastic about the content, there are still some gaps. Caritas assures that the site will be continuously expanded, and they are also working on an extensive FAQ with basic questions and answers.

At the moment you can only accompany the refugees while they are waiting

Andrea Betz from the board of the Diakonie emphasizes how necessary basic information is so that at least volunteers can see through as multipliers. It starts with the registration: where do the new arrivals have to register? Which office is responsible for what? Many arrivals do not have an e-mail account for the online notification requested by the district government – what to do? And then the big question: what happens after the first few days in the guest room or on the camp bed? Of course, says Betz, the Ukrainians want to know that, but the answer from the helpers is: We don’t know. It is difficult for those who are committed to accepting that no answers can be given yet. At the moment you can only accompany the refugees while they are waiting.

Open detailed view

After all, there is now a task force in the town hall that is trying to find permanent accommodation on the fly; Mayor Verena Dietl is in charge. On Thursday, Dietl stopped by the Heimatstern activists when they were just packing two vans with all kinds of material for the trip to the Polish-Ukrainian border. The fact that someone from the top of the city is interested and listens is an enormous motivational boost, you can hear Petra Lehmann on the phone. Of course, things can’t go perfectly, she says about working together, and it sounds like praise and a reminder: “It’s allowed to jerk, but you can’t ignore the jerks.”