Devotion

Children for Tomorrow Foundation

Providing Critical Therapeutic Treatment to Refugee Children for 25 years

In 1998, Stefanie partnered with University of Hamburg child psychologist Peter Riedesser to create Children for Tomorrow as a means of supporting the mental health of refugee children – an ever-growing population group in Germany. In 2023, Children for Tomorrow celebrated 25 years of providing therapeutic treatment to children (and their families) who have been persecuted or traumatized as victims of war, flight or organized violence.

CFT Origins

A Call to Action

Nearly half of all refugees who enter Germany – largely from Ukraine, Syria, Afghanistan and Sudan – are children and young people, many of whom have experienced war and the loss of loved ones in their home country and suffered violence while fleeing. As a result, they frequently suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder, depression and sleep disorders. As there are few therapeutic resources available for refugee children of primary school age, Children for Tomorrow closes the gap in Germany’s ambulatory care system to provide much-needed care to this vulnerable group.

The Goal

Children for Tomorrow uses its financial resources to heal refugee children’s traumas by offering unique, specialized psychotherapeutic treatments and psychosocial services that enable them to orient, integrate and assimilate in exile, stabilize their emotional state, and work towards a healthy future. Based on the experiences gained from monitoring and evaluation, a treatment concept for refugee children at primary schools will be created, which can be transferred to other schools in Hamburg and throughout Germany.

CFT’s Programs

In 2011, Children for Tomorrow’s headquarters were inaugurated on the grounds of the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf. Children for Tomorrow supports the Refugee Outpatient Clinic for Children, Young People and Their Families at the University Hospital, where a multicultural and interdisciplinary team of doctors, therapists and translators provides care for up to 500 children a year in a safe, familiar environment. In addition, since June 2017, Children for Tomorrow has been operating the “HonigHelden! Making Children Strong for Tomorrow” project in cooperation with school authorities, through which Children for Tomorrow offers on-site therapies specifically aimed at the needs of refugee children aged 6-10 in primary schools.