CIVIL SOCIETY: 269 PRACTICES
SolidarityNow mission is the multi-fold, to counter the most serious effects and urgent needs promulgated by the crisis, through the provision of relief services to members of the society most affected.
Read more: www.solidaritynow.org
SolidarityNow aims to open a network of Solidarity Centers in different parts of Greece. Two Centers have already been launched in Thessaloniki and Athens downtown. The Centres provide an array of services and support for both Greeks and migrants suffering from the crisis. The Centers serve as a hub for local NGOs to run their activities and provide a range of services including: medical assistance, legal advice for people at risk of eviction or in debt, employment training and assistance and support for local NGO initiatives.
The main goals of the SolidarityNow project are the following:
Solidarity Centers are established to assist all people in need, regardless their financial or social status. We offer our services for free to Greek citizens, immigrants, refugees, asylum seekers, unaccompanied minors, undocumented migrants, drug users, Roma, homeless, children, torture victims, domestic violence victims, racist attacks and human traffic victims.
Since January 2014 in Thessaloniki and since November 2014 in Athens.
Thessaloniki Solidarity Center:
The Centre was inaugurated by Solidarity Now in January 2014. It operates in close collaboration with two Greek non-governmental organizations, ARSIS and PRAKSIS, offering:
• Free primary health care assistance (covering medical specialities of general medicine and psychiatry).
• Free, independent, confidential legal advice and aid.
• Referrals to appropriate social services and organizations.
• Seminars and workshops on health, employment, and legal rights.
• The Solidarity Centre also provides an open space and welcomes organizations, citizens’ groups and individuals to hold one-off activities inside the Centre, such as trainings, workshops, and debates.
Athens Solidarity Center:
With the financial support of the European Economic Area (EEA) Grants and in partnership with the Municipality of Athens, the Solidarity Centre opened in November 2014 by Solidarity Now. The Athens Centre cooperates with four Greek NGOs: ARSIS, PRAKSIS, the Network for Children’s Rights, and Together for the Children, offering its services to all citizens in need:
• Free primary health care assistance (covering medical specialities of general medicine, dermatology, orthopedics, opthalmology and psychiatry).
• Free, independent, confidential legal advice and aid.
• Free employment skills training and advice.
• A Children’s Support Centre, Help line for children and youth.
• Psycho-social services to mothers and families in need
• The Solidarity Centre also provides an open space and welcomes organizations, citizens’ groups, and individuals to hold one off activities inside the Centre, such as trainings, workshops and debates.
Thessaloniki, Athens
Praksis, Arsis, Together for Children, Network for Children\'s Rights, Municipality of Athens, EEA Grants-Norway. Solidarity Centers are created to become dynamic reference points, for which new cooperations schemes are already underway.
Solidarity Now is a team of 12 staff and 5 interns, in Athens and Thessaloniki. Athens Solidarity Center is managed through a participatory procedure, involving almost 40 staff and numerous volunteers, assisting organisations with the implementation of their work.
Starting with two services offered at Thessaloniki Solidarity Center, Athens Solidarity Center is now offering a range of 6 services, proving the dynamics of the whole project. The increased demand for the services provided, indicating the project's success, leads to consider new perspectives of opening new Solidarity Centers in more regions of Greece. Organisation-wise, the most important achievement is the coordination and the synergies among Greek NGOs, which was not taken as granted up to date. The holistic approach in providing services to beneficiaries not only covers their needs in a more integrated way, but also reinforces collaboration of NGOs, empowering their capacities for improving living conditions within the Greek society.
No Connection with Global Goals found