Our history

Thanks to the support of the Foundation's strategic partner – the company Neo Energy Group – the Motivation and Prevention Centre has opened new premises in Katowice.
Its patron is none other than Dr Ben Furman.

In 2023 our work was recognised by the European Brief Therapy Association (EBTA). The ULICA Foundation received the prestigious award for Excellence in Solution Focused Practice.

The Foundation runs projects based on solution-focused tools and the solution-focused approach, teaching competences and empowering young people. Thanks to the work of the Foundation and the Dr Ben Furman Centre, children and young people in difficult situations receive systemic support. In individual programmes they rebuild their self-esteem, and in group programmes – a sense of community.

In 2023 Dr Ben Furman became the Foundation's content partner. From then on, the Foundation's Centre began training professionals working with children and young people in the Kids’ Skills and Skillful Group methods.

The Foundation launches the Ambassadors of Peace programme

The outbreak of war in Ukraine moved the Foundation's young people, who created the “ONLY PEACE” Manifesto, emphasising peace as the highest value and the mission of us all.

In the Letter of the Ambassadors of Peace they encourage their peers and adults to fight for peace every day. The Ambassadors of Peace are young leaders promoting peace and reconciliation, building bridges between generations and drawing on the experiences of older people who lived through wars and conflicts.

Their message is clear: peace unites us all and requires shared care. Thanks to the support of MEP Łukasz Kohut, the young people's message reached the whole of Europe during a public hearing in the European Parliament.

The pandemic changed the world of strength and power as we knew it, forcing us to look for new solutions. We wondered why some children cope better while others sink into depression or addiction.

In response, we set up a centre which, as part of its work, carried out research into psychological resilience, which turned out to be the key to supporting children and young people. The schools offering help became a haven of sensitivity, creativity and community for them.

Since then we have been developing tools that support teachers, educators, psychologists and foster parents on the front line of children's lives. 

For years we have been creating projects with the youngest in mind – children and young people. Their aim is to show them a different, more beautiful world that values them, regardless of where they come from, what they think of themselves and how others judge them.

In our work we help them regain a sense of agency and community. We teach them how to see themselves through the lens of their own resources and strength. Together we discovered our power, becoming Ambassadors of the Impossible.

After returning from the expedition, the young participants decided to share their story to inspire their peers to become Ambassadors of the Impossible – people who have the courage to dream of a better life and a better world, and who show through their actions that, whatever their situation, they make an effort, to change it.

Being an Ambassador of the Impossible is an attitude of courage, determination and readiness to go beyond your own limits – for yourself and for others.

In 2012, with support from Fortum, we organised the expedition “From the Slag Heap to Scandinavia”.

The programmes were aimed at young people from poor Silesian families, often at risk of marginalisation. We cycled 800 kilometres, reaching all the way to Nordkapp, the northernmost tip of Europe.

Battling wind, cold and fog along the way, we found within ourselves the strength that helped us cover another few dozen kilometres a day, overcome another few bad thoughts, get through another few difficult days.

26 dreamers set off from Katowice to Nepal to conquer the peak of their lives. The project “From the Slag Heap to the Himalayas” becomes a symbol of courage, of going beyond one's own limits and an inspiration to turn the impossible into the possible – both for the participants and for the thousands of children and young people whom the ULICA Foundation helps to discover their own power.

During the expedition, the group of young people won the battle with the weaknesses of body and spirit to visit their peers at the highest school in the world (3440 m above sea level) in Namche Bazaar, and then to climb even higher, five thousand metres above sea level. At the foot of the south face of Lhotse, we paid tribute to the memory of Jerzy Kukuczka, Rafał Chołda and Czesław Jakiel – Polish Himalayan climbers who died pushing their limits in 1989.

Adrian Kowalski - visionary, social innovator, member of the international organisation ASHOKA, passionate about working with children and young people; infecting them with his energy and faith in dreams, he teaches how to make real what seems impossible.

The beginnings of the work of Adrian Kowalski, founder and president of the ULICA Foundation, go back more than three decades. Already in communist Poland, as one of the few social workers, he helped children in difficult life situations and their unemployed parents, working in the poorest towns and districts of the country. Continuously and with enormous commitment, he supported those who most needed support and hope, laying the foundations for the future mission of the ULICA Foundation – systemically strengthening psychological resilience and building a sense of agency and community among children and young people.