Kryzhopil Territorial Community

History

There are several versions of the origin of the name “Kryzhopil”. A high cross used to stand on the site of the village, and there was a field around it. In the 15th century, Chumaks, who at that time transported goods, products, materials, etc., often saw this cross, and nicknamed this place accordingly: “Cross and the field around” or “Cross in the field”, which means in Polish “Krzyż w polu” or “Krzyż o pole”.

The emergence of the settlement there is connected with the construction of the Kyiv-Odesa railway track, which began in 1866.

An important event in the history of the area is the beginning of regular train traffic through the station back in 1870. The first developers of the village were railway workers. The settlement became a transhipment trade point.

Jews lived in large numbers in Kryzhopil, as in all towns of Podillia, they were called shtetls. Nowadays, only the remains of the Jewish cemetery remind of Kryzhopil’s Jewish past.

There are forty-eight landmarks of cultural heritage and historical estates in the territory of the Community as well as a complex natural area “Culture and Recreation Park” with an area of 12.58 hectares.

Economy and Welfare

The branches of the economy are mainly represented by enterprises of the processing, forestry, food, energy industry and agriculture.

Medium and small businesses are mainly represented by trade, services and small goods production. They attract grant funding for their development.

The largest budget-generating enterprises in the territory of the Community are forestry, a milk processing enterprise, an oil press plant, and the Kryzhopil elevator.

According to the index of the physical volume of the gross domestic product, the Vinnytsia Region, as a region, holds one of the first positions in Ukraine, including the Kryzhopil Community being a leader among territorial communities. 

There are three lyceums in the territory of the Community attended by about two thousand students. There are seven preschool education institutions and two out-of-school education institutions: a schoolhouse and a sports school.

Also, in the Community, considerable attention is paid to the needs of children with special educational needs and children with disabilities: for this purpose there is an inclusive resource centre that provides special services to children with special educational needs.

Medical care in the Community is provided by the district intensive care hospital and the primary care medical centre.

Community and War

Since the beginning of the large-scale war of the russian federation against Ukraine, the Community has been actively helping its residents and all those fleeing the war with food, warm clothes, beds, and housing.

There are those who repair medical or military cars for free. Others unload humanitarian aid. Many have become volunteers.

Since February 24, 2022, the Community has become home to more than 2,000 internally displaced persons. All the residents of the Community providing shelter for IDPs can profit from the service of compensation for housing utility services.

The international organization INTERSOS works in the territory of the Community to support internally displaced persons with a humanitarian mission. UNICEF humanitarian aid is distributed at the Social Services Centre to families with children who have been forced to leave their homes. Among them, children from socially disadvantaged categories of the Community have received warm things. In addition to boxes from UNICEF, the Community has also received many clothes collected by European citizens for the needs of Ukrainians.

Boxes with premium cosmetic products for babies from the French company Mustela are given to young mothers as part of the Baby Care Package project. Every mother in the Kryzhopil Community and the neighbouring communities has received such a package.

The employees of the Kryzhopil inclusive resource centre, together with the parents of children who receive services from the centre, started the charitable campaign “TRENCH CANDLES – TO THE DEFENDERS OF UKRAINE!” when the war broke out. For this, they announced the collection of the necessary materials to make the blanks. Together, they produced more than 400 trench candles for the military. This campaign would not have been possible without the help of caring residents and entrepreneurs who responded to the event and helped with materials.

The Children’s Affairs Service, caring for the young residents of the Community, has implemented the humanitarian project “NaplichnychOK”, organized by the International Charity Fund “Help Us Help UA”, by providing 100 children of the Vinnytsia Region with rucksacks and necessary educational supplies.

Psychological support is very important in such a difficult time for everyone. That is why it is possible to take a group course “Self-help plus” at the Social Services Centre of the Settlement Council.

Thanks to cooperation with the International Charitable Foundation “Ahead Foundation”, the children of internally displaced persons who settled in the Community, orphans, the children deprived of parental care and the children of fallen Defenders of Ukraine had the opportunity to rest in the Carpathians. The goal of the project is to preserve and restore the physical and psychological health of children who suffered as a result of the war.

At the library, with the help of the humanitarian project “A person in trouble” organized by a Czech nongovernmental organization, the “Children’s and Youth Space” was opened for children of the Kryzhopil Settlement Territorial Community and internally displaced children. At the children’s library, individual consultations are held with a practicing psychologist who helps to calm, listen to and explain the life situations of both internally displaced children and local ones. Anyone who needs psychological help joins such meetings.

People of the Community

Volodymyr Vasylyshen is the Settlement Council head elected in the local elections on October 25, 2020.

In order to improve the safe and comfortable conditions of students in the art school, the corridor and bathrooms have been overhauled there. 

Since centralized gas supply is available only in the Sokoliv Starosta-headed district, the Settlement Council continues to come up with new ways for communication and assistance to the residents of the Community. In order to provide the population of the Community with liquefied gas, applications are regularly received, at the request of the residents, and gas is supplied in cylinders.

Development Strategy

The Community has drafted its Balanced Development Strategy until 2030.

One of the important areas of work of the Kryzhopil Settlement Council is to improve the quality and safety of its residents. For this, the Lyceum installed a modern video surveillance system and high-speed Internet equipment for the safe stay of students and employees of the institution, which significantly increased the quality of educational services.

The Kryzhopil Settlement Council, together with the Interregional Coordination Humanitarian Centre and the charity foundation, provided the local medical institution with a significant number of multifunctional German beds, mattresses and bedside tables, which ensure the comfort and safety of its patients.

Due to the armed aggression, the hospital received a specialized ambulance to provide emergency care thanks to the cooperation of the Kryzhopil Settlement Council and the Viktor Kryvenko “Kolo” Charitable Foundation, as well as fellow residents.

With the assistance of the Settlement Council head, the utility company purchased several machines for the first time: a grader, a road roller, a one-bucket wheeled mini loader and attachments for the loader, which will significantly improve the quality of services provided in our Community and the condition of communally owned roads.

List of Sources

• krzgromada.gov.ua/