Section SOCIETY
TOPIC

INTERAMERICAN

Social Entrepreneurship: INTERAMERICAN joins "Schedia"

INTERAMERICAN has been collaborating with the NGO "Diogenis" since 2008, as a sponsor in the effort to tackle poverty and social exclusion. The NGO "Diogenis", which is responsible for planning and organizing programs and events for the homeless, has been awarded for its social work by the Presidency of the Hellenic Republic.

This cooperation is registered in the Corporate Responsibility plan "Acts of Life" of the Company and in the axis of support of vulnerable social groups.

The "Schedia" and the national group of homeless people aim at the direct support of our fellow citizens who are experiencing in the hardest way the social and economic crisis that plagues our country: homeless, unemployed and socially excluded fellow citizens who are either on the verge of homelessness, whether they live on the street or in temporary and unsuitable accommodation (rough sleepers), or have been out of the labor market for more than three or four years.

The support of the NGO Diogenis and specifically of the National Homeless Group and the magazine "raftia" started in 2010 and continues to this day.

INTERAMERICAN supports the initiatives of the "Diogenis" Organization for the needy and homeless with:

Free team insurance for the homeless soccer team (athletes and escorts) participating in the world street soccer tournament.
Sponsorship of primary health services in the Company's infrastructure (Athenian MEDICLINIC)
availability of protected points of sale of the monthly magazine "Schedia" at its Head Offices and Sales Offices, every month
financial support for the publication of the magazine "Schedia".
More specifically, INTERAMERICAN offers travel insurance with life and permanent disability coverage, as well as team accident coverage for all the homeless who staff the men's and women's soccer teams and their companions in the Homeless World Cup.

Regarding the regular circulation of the magazine "Schedia", INTERAMERICAN has been supporting the idea since 2014 as a sponsor as with a monthly distribution of sales points for each issue at its headquarters and regional offices, more than 2,000 copies have been distributed to employees and office visitors. . Proceeds from the sale of the "Schedia" contribute to a decent job and the survival of the homeless, generating income and building a professional conscience, as long as half the price is capitalized to continue the activity.

"Diogenis NGO" is an Urban Non-Profit Company, based in Athens, established in early 2010 to support, through a wide range of activities, the efforts of the homeless and socially excluded people to join or re-join the social tissue. The main actions of "Diogenis NGO" are the publication of the magazine "raftia" and the establishment of the national homeless football team with its annual participation in the World Cup for the homeless. As part of these activities, a number of cultural and sporting events are organized during the year in Athens and other cities of Greece, as well as special social events, such as concerts, photo exhibitions, workshops, film festivals, football & information tournaments. etc.

The participation of the employees is an integral part / condition of this action as every month the employees of INTERAMERICAN receive in their offices a certified seller of the magazine. INTERAMERICAN, with its highly developed volunteerism in the corporate community of its employees and partners, recently participated in a global initiative of the street magazines "Sellers for an hour". Specifically, on Wednesday, 2023, a group of volunteers of the company were in the metro Syggrou Fix, wore the characteristic red vest and experienced for an hour the experience of the seller of the magazine.

Mainly in the prefecture of Attica as the protected post that INKAN provides to sellers of the raft magazine is its headquarters and administrative centers in Athens.

To date, 2,300 issues of the magazine have been purchased from INTERAMERICAN's protected post alone.

The sellers of the magazine earn 1.5 euros from the sale of each copy and capitalize on the rest of the price to buy a new quantity of copies, thus creating a simple model of personal, social entrepreneurship. In this way, they succeed in securing a basic income and operating in society, protecting their dignity and tackling poverty. The "raft" has a journey of 5 years with 56 issues to date with a variety of extremely interesting topics. Its sellers are approaching the "barrier" of one million sales and one in ten are over 65 years old, while nine out of ten sellers recognize that they gain through this activity "more understanding and love from their fellow human beings".