Diary

The HOME Project stays home but fun is still on. While complying with the recent measures to remain safe inside our shelters, we play games in small groups and spend our time in a recreational way

The HOME Project stays HOME. We have adjusted our operations to minimize risk of infection while not compromising the quality of services to the children we care for.
All of our shifts have been rearranged in an efficient way to avoid overlaps of staff in the shelters. Child protection meetings, staff meetings as well as supervisions will continue as usual via teleconference channels and while every educational activity of minors has been postponed, in coordination with ACS Athens (American Community Schools) we provide online educational support.

The Guardian published our joint letter sent to Greek and EU leaders, where together with 24 civil society organizations we are calling for urgent action to protect unaccompanied children in Greece and take them out of the inhumane conditions they live risking their exposure to COVID-19 amongst other threats.
Photo credit: Darrin Zammit Lupi/Reuters

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L., 18 years old from Sierra Leone, has a special talent and passion for fashion and design. Being a graduate of Avioti Fashion ED and having successfully participated in Athens Xclusive Designers Week 2019 at Zappeion Megaron, he is open to job opportunities that will enable him to pursue his passion. Here is a photo of the amazing backpack and some of his sketches.

The HOME Project community wishes you a nice long weekend and Clean Monday celebration.

Institute Prolepsis visited one of our shelters and gave our cooks and staff in charge of supplies an educational training on food safety practices. We are constantly looking for the best practices and updates to ensure the safety of the children we care for. Thank you Prolepsis for helping us out.

"It is through our vulnerabilities that we recognize our strengths". Last Sunday, PeaceJam Greece members visited one of our The HOME Project shelters with girls and minor mothers and talked with them about women empowerment; overcoming vulnerabilities and cultivating strengths. Joining our efforts we can achieve the best possible results for the well-being of the children we care for.

Imran, 19years old today, became a member of the Home Project family three years ago joining one of our shelters for boys. Today, we are proud to have him working with us, in one of the shelters and volunteering in his free time to our valuable causes.
Here’s a photo of him on his weekly visit to the Farmer’s Market of Athens, where he gathers along with other volunteers of Μπορούμε fresh food and vegetables that would go wasted if they remained unsold on the markets’ benches at the end of the working day.

An ongoing collaboration fostering growth and inclusion.
Each month The HOME Project Child Protection Unit and ACS Athens (American Community Schools) teachers engaged with the Youth to Youth program come together to exchange best child protection policies while empowering their remarkable effort at supporting 18 full-time tuition scholarship recipients at ACS Athens, generously offered by the Shapiro Foundation.

We all came together at Δημοτική Αγορά Κυψέλης, in the center of Athens, to celebrate our ever-growing community embracing inclusion and paving the way to a safer and happier society for everyone. Our children, staff, volunteers, friends and supporters of The HOME Project were present to light up the Community Building Event spirit and have fun.
Flourish Foundation hosted a wonderful arts workshop and everyone enjoyed the arts exhibition with our children’s impressive craft-works. The Anasa Cultural Center presented a social circus session and the DJ George Raptakis kept us dancing with great music. We are thankful of everyone who joined this Community Building initiative and we look forward to hosting you in the next one.

The monthly capacity building training for all the staff of our shelters was offered by Mr. Konstantinos Kokkolis, Deputy Director of Program Implementation at Οργανισμός Κατά των Ναρκωτικών - ΟΚΑΝΑ in collaboration with The HOME Project Child Protection Unit. The training was centered around the identification of signs of drug abuse in children’s behavior and the presentation of different models of functional daily management and treatment. Empowering our staff to respond efficiently and effectively is key priority to our mission.

Inclusive and diverse communities of coexistence, care, love and support are essential for the beneficial development of any human society. Yesterday we celebrated the beginning of the New Year in Romantso in Omonoia square in the heart of Athens. We shared traditional customs to welcome 2020, drumming and dancing with the tunes of Anasa Cultural Center and DJ George Raptakis. A big thank you to the wonderful community of children, staff and friends of The HOME Project who honored us with their presence. Our wish is for all children of the world to be able to their undeniable right to enjoy their childhood with health, love, education, joy and peace. Looking forward to seeing you all and those who didn’t make it to our next community building event. Stay tuned.

Our full-time scholarship students at ACS Athens (American Community Schools) were introduced by their teachers to the tradition of ancient Greek theater. Since many of them have never seen a theater performance their teachers organized a theater visit for them. We are grateful to the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Center and the Greek National Opera – Εθνική Λυρική Σκηνή for offering the opportunity to our children to attend the Four Seasons musical play and enjoy a beautiful day at the park.

A big thank you to Panathinaikos BC and PAO BC Academy for welcoming our children to a great basketball game We are looking forward to coming back and exploring more potential pathways for collaboration.

Our Coordinator of the “Little Pugad” shelter for children aged 6-11 years old – Giannis Manios, was a speaker at the ‘Alliance for Children on the Move: Standard Operating Procedure for Guardians’ event organised by the Institute of Children’s Health (http://www.ich.gr/en/), advocating the importance of having a social inclusion approach within the context of a child protection framework.

During the last weeks, everyone participated in the decoration of all shelters creating a festive and warm atmosphere for all children enabling a feeling of belonging and celebration during the holidays.

We were so happy to come together to The HOME Project central offices to celebrate our third anniversary. We are grateful for the creation of a great community of support that has enabled us in 3 years of operation to increase our provision of care for more than 450 children in secure environments that give support, protection, education and social integration services while creating more than 140 jobs for refugees and Greeks.

Thank you ΑΒ Βασιλόπουλος and Ελληνικό Παιδικό Μουσείο / Hellenic Children's Museum for organizing a 2 days festival of love and gift and inviting our children to participate and experience the Christmas spirit with delicious sweets by Chef Γιώργος Τσούλης / Giorgos Tsoulis and cooking workshops

Maria Kaldani, Head of Human development of the Child Protection Unit of The HOME Project presented our child protection model during the “Social Inclusion of Beneficiaries with International Protection in Greece: Challenges, Achievements and Prospects” event organized by Εθνική Επιτροπή για τα Δικαιώματα του Ανθρώπου - ΕΕΔΑ and UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency. Our child protection model has been carefully designed to ensure ultimate care for lone children in Greece with social integration as the first priority.

We were thrilled to take part at the IKEA Foundation event within the context of the #GlobalRefugeeForum 2019 at #Geneva bringing together world leaders and thousands of changemakers in order to find better solutions for refugees and their host communities. We participated in the new Refugee Ignorance Test developed by Ola Rosling and Alexander Betts looking at public perception of refugees and migrants, and how we can move towards a fact-based refugee system.

We attended the #GlobalCompactRefugeeForum spotlight session on Sexual and Gender Based Violence focusing on solutions, setting new norms and values that provide holistic support structures that give a real voice to women and girls on the move.

A big thank you to Astra Shipmanagement Inc company and to the most amazing Santa Claus Aris Koropoulis for offering a beautiful day of joy, wonderful gifts and beautiful smiles to the girls and babies of the Shapiro family shelter.
We are looking forward to having you with us again.

Thank you Η Εφημερίδα των Συντακτών for the article “Global Award for Children’s Guardian Angels in Greece” on the Child 10 award nomination of our CEO Sofia Kouvelaki along with Yonous Muhammadi, President of the Greek Forum of Refugees and Nantina Tsekeri, Director of Defence for Children International Greece. «This award is an international recognition and aims to enhance our efforts to construct healing environments for unaccompanied minors and for local communities as well, building multicultural societies that function beneficially for everyone”.

The monthly capacity building training for all the staff of our shelters was kindly offered by Gina Thanopoulou EDM, MA Harvard University in collaboration with The HOME Project Child Protection Unit at Σεράφειο Δήμου Αθηναίων - Serafio City of Athens. The training was centered around emotional intelligence and its role on professionals working with unaccompanied minors. Empowering our staff to respond efficiently and understand the parental dimensions in their relations with the children under our care is essential.

Engaging in sports and recreational activities has been proven to boost confidence, strengthen bonds and contribute to overall health and wellbeing. We are thrilled to partner with PeaceJam Greece, International Olympic Truce Centre and  Πανελλήνιος Γυμναστικός Σύλλογος  providing the opportunity for the children we care for to participate in team sports. Last week the boys from our shelters were coached by Olympic Game Winners in basketball, handball, short obstacle runs, archery and fencing. This week it is our girls turn and we are all looking forward to the continuation of this amazing collaboration.

We would like to thank Lamda Development employees for their kindness and the time they devoted to visit our Pugad shelter for minor girls and minor mothers with their babies, share gifts and learn more about our work and the issue of lone refugee children in Greece.

Following the devastating events of the earthquake in Albania, which left numerous families and children without homes, the children of The HOME Project decided to intervene. Staff, volunteers and the children of our shelters came together to provide aid for the families and children in need in Albania and donated what they could spare in regards of personal clothing items to the ones in acute need. Last week the staff and volunteers of The HOME Project filled a van full of contributions and drove off to donate the items to the ones in need, in Albania. The children and staff of The HOME Project hope for a swift resolution and extend thoughts and condolences to the ones affected.

We are grateful for the solidarity and humanism created as a result of the collaboration between individuals and private institutions to protect lone refugee children in Greece. Mediterraneo Hospital and Ophthalmic Diagnosis with Dr. Giorgos Stamas undertook pro bono the hospitalization and cataract surgery of one of the children we care for at The HOME Project.
Their example gives us hope and faith in synergies that can create sustainable and beneficial ecosystems of social support.

Thank you The Flying Seagull Project for visiting The HOME Project shelters bringing so much joy, creative inspiration and a smile to every child that we care for. We are grateful for your continuous support and looking forward to having you again with us very soon.

A big thank you to Ωδείον Αθηνών - Athens Conservatoire and The Liverpool Institute for Performing Arts for an amazing social theater workshop full of games, inspiration and joy for the children we care for at the HOME Project

Empowering shelter staff to respond effectively to the needs of the children we care for is a key priority. Our November child protection capacity building session was centered around education in the observation of non-verbal signs of communication in their daily contact with the children, understanding better the needs and developing the right individual plans for each child. The training was hosted at Σεράφειο Δήμου Αθηναίων - Serafio City of Athens in collaboration with Europe Direct City of Athens.

L., arrived at our #Orion shelter last year with an inclination towards fashion. Talented as he was, The HOME Project encouraged and awarded him with a scholarship enabling him to attend a fashion design private classes in Avioti Fashion ED, an Exclusive Fashion & Visual Art Laboratory based in Athens.
Unprotected as he was previously in Moria camp, it was only being in a safe place with structure and warmth that could set the foundation for change.
Last week, L. successfully participated in Athens Xclusive Designers Week at Zappeion Megaron, as a graduate of AVIOTI Fashion Ed. presenting his unique creations designed and produced by him. His artistic style is inspired by folk African artistry and his early childhood experiences as he said. L. has recently stepped into adulthood and today, we feel more than proud of him and we hope that we made a small contribution to his effort to spread his wings as a creative member of society.

Celebrating diversity and building community and love between people is an essential part of improving the quality of life of any society.
A big thank you to everyone that joined our event near Victoria square last night. We are grateful to The Flying Seagull Project for bringing joy and magic to the children we care for and to Daphne Assimakopoulou for her amazing dance moves and rhythm.
Stay tuned, join our next event and learn more on how you can help our mission.

Following the recent revocation of social security numbers (AMKA) for asylum seekers in Greece and the latest decision by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs (no. 80320/42862/Δ18.2718) of Oct. 1st, 2019, The HOME Project shared a plea, asking for the help, among others, of medical specialties, so that the children we care for in our shelters can be registered in school. We are immensely grateful to Drs. Zoe Psomadaki and Evdokia Petropoulou, Cardiologists, the first who responded to our call and offered meticulous examinations to the ones in need.

The first stop of the #LoveYourselfFirst project by Desmos.org, Lactacyd, Mary Synatsaki Fans - #Mairiboo and Dr. Theodoros Kalampokas, Ob/Gyn was The HOME Project “Shapiro Family” shelter for unaccompanied minor girls and minor mothers with their babies. It was an amazing and enlightening evening and we were delighted to see the girls open-up and get all the answers around basic hygiene and body care issues by the experts. Thank you!

We remain committed to creating cross-cultural experiences that bring people together while building an inclusive community within the heart of Athens. On Friday, November 15th, we are celebrating #InternationalDayforTolerance in the garden of one of our shelters, close to Victoria Square.
Friends and neighbors are welcome to join us for a beautiful evening of celebration with music, delicious homemade food prepared by the children and the staff of our shelters and an African Dance Workshop for all ages, with dance teacher and choreographer Daphne Assimakopoulou.

Thank you Kathimerini English Edition for helping us spread the word about the 2020 Child 10 award as a recognition of the high quality child protection services of individual care and support for each and every child cared for by The HOME Project team, while enhancing community building on a local, national and international level.

“With a paper moon, I travel…”
Thank you Despina Sougioul for inviting the younger kids from our Little Pugad shelter to a splendid action and musical afternoon organized by Metadeftero (Μεταδεύτερο) “With a Paper Moon, I Travel» ( “Μ' ένα Χάρτινο Φεγγαράκι Ταξιδεύω”) dedicated to the life and music of Manos Hatzidakis. We dream of a world where music makes the people come together.

The HOME Project is proud to share the news that, our CEO Sofia Kouvelaki, has been selected to receive the 2020 Child 10 Award under the theme "Children in the hands of Europe". Every year, Child 10 gathers and awards ten exceptionally bold individuals from around the world for their everyday struggle for the most vulnerable children in our communities. The aim is to recognize their brave and relentless struggle to protect and prevent child abuse, exploitation, and violations, and to share their stories.
We are deeply grateful for the support to The HOME Project. It inspires us to continue working on creating a sustainable systematic change for our staff, the neighborhood, the community - and most of all - the children we care for.

Our little ones are in for a big leap. This week a group of 5 toddlers started preparatory classes that will enable them to take exams for their entrance in the Elementary School of HAEF Athens College - Psychico College within the context of our educational partnership and with the kind support of the Shapiro Foundation (https://theshapirofoundation.org/) .

Today, Hiona the SAPT Hellas therapy dog is with us at the office accompanied by one of our employees. Little K and his mother had the chance to know, pet and offer her plenty of treats thanking her for her patience and sweet disposition.

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Our CEO Sofia Kouvelaki participated in the SolidarityNow “Migration and Integration” panel of the Athens Democracy Forum in association with The New York Times, presenting the work of The HOME Project and raising awareness on the current urgent child protection gap for unaccompanied minors in Greece.

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Last year, Melina (17 years old) and Nefeli (15 years old) arranged a shelter performance by the famous Yale University a Capella group the Whiffenpoofs. This year, Melina was the Team Leader of 4 other youngsters for a project titled “Right to Play”: her sister Nefeli, Daphne (15) Jason (16) and Constantinos (12!) set out to buy and fit a whole set of bookcases, desks and chairs and drew on walls to create a lovely play and study room in our Little Pugad shelter for toddlers. Thank you, kids, there is hope when the young help out the young.

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Thank you Marianna V. Vardinoyannis Foundation, Axion Hellas and HAEF Athens College - Psychico College for giving a voice to our Youth Ambassadors during the “Speak Truth to Power” event organized at the Benaki Museum of Islamic Art within the context of the Athens Democracy Forum. Our youngsters participated at an interactive Human Rights panel together with students from Kastelorizo high school and Athens College offering their views on the real meaning of social inclusion, civic engagement and democracy in today’s world. We are looking forward to continuing these very fruitful collaborations.

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Thank you Greek Reporter for showcasing our work at the event hosted by the Consulate General of Greece in Boston, where our CEO Sofia Kouvelaki talked to members of the Greek diaspora and the Boston academic community, raising awareness on the pressing child protection gap that currently exists for lone refugee children in Greece.

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We are grateful to Marie Claire Greece for inviting our CEO Sofia Kouvelaki to participate at the Activism panel of the #McPowerTrip conference, giving us an opportunity to raise awareness about the current urgent child protection gap that exists for unaccompanied minors in Greece with more than 3,353 children outside of the official child protection system.

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The Flying Seagull Project has completed two full weeks at The HOME Project shelters. Their vast experience and ability to adjust their repertoire according to the children’s age makes them an ideal group that brings immense joy and laughter and excites the youngsters’ imagination through play.

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Tania Georgiopoulou and Kathimerini showcased the current “Odyssey” of asylum seekers in Greece. Among them G., an unaccompanied child refugee from Guinea and one of the first children under our care. G has been one of exemplary successes of our social inclusion program. He has been a victim of violence threatening his life, child labor, child prostitution and trafficking in his country and during the journey. Under our care he has received a holistic network of child protection services including education, job placement and is now attending a private school in Athens. After three years of hard efforts to become a responsible and active citizen, the rejection of his asylum application finds him exposed to the threat of deportation back to where a traumatic cycle of violence had begun.

Read the full article.

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The renowned educational institution and our educational partner HAEF Athens College - Psychico College organized a three-day event, for its Kindergarten, Elementary, Junior-high, High and IBDP students with the aim of involving even more of them in the “School Project”. The program, soon to be launched for a second year in a row, consists of volunteer teachers and students buddying up with our children, working together throughout the school year. For The HOME Project management staff, it was a wonderful chance to present our work and experiences from the first year of “The School Project” implementation.

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Kiki, a 17-year-old girl from Mercer island, WA in the US following her volunteer experience with us during this past summer had a great idea to surprise the friends she made at our shelters with personalized gifts and messages. Thank you Kiki for keeping in touch from afar and we are looking forward to having you again with us.

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“Save the planet, we have no other home!”

shouted along with hundreds of students children under our care at Fridays for Future Greece, demonstrating against climate change and becoming part of the Global Students Climate Strike.

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“Cooperation of all relevant stakeholders - public institutions, local authorities, civil society, academic institutions, private sector, media and private individuals - is key in dealing with this issue that if left unaddressed will have serious consequences affecting social cohesion and the quality of life of everyone on a national and European level”.
Thank you Kathimerini English Edition for shedding light on the urgent need to implement a child protection policy for unaccompanied minors, as stressed by Sofia Kouvelaki, CEO of The HOME Project.

Read more here

 

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Last week we had the pleasure and honor to host a group of senior and very experienced leaders from London Business School in the context of the school’s Global Business Assignment Leadership programs. Their aim was to support The HOME Project by conducting primary and secondary research to assess strategic opportunities of development. We are grateful for their final report with recommendations that will enable us to work even more effectively.

We are thrilled to have with us the second team of Social Workers from the Volda University College (Høgskulen i Volda) and OsloMet - Oslo Metropolitan University as a result of our collaboration with Social Workers Without Borders.(Sosialarbeidere uten Grenser, Norge). During last week’s kick-off meeting, our Child Protection Unit presented our holistic child protection model. For the next 3 months, the team will receive continuous training while working in our shelters to support the children.

Our valuable friends and supporters, The Flying Seagull Project are again in Greece and with us, visiting all our shelters. Their first visit was at the Shapiro Family shelter and on a very special day, as I., 10 years old, one of the unaccompanied girls, from Pakistan and Magda Tsiflidi, Social Worker at the shelter both had their birthdays. The celebration party included singing, magic tricks and of course a cake.

Alex Manioudakis, Brown University freshman student started volunteering with us last year. We were so happy to have him back this year documenting daily life at the shelters and children’s interactions with other volunteers working with us. Thank you Alex for being part of The HOME Project community.

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Greetings from the beautiful Greek island of Symi where two of our kids who recently became 18 have found a job at one of the local restaurants. Ali and Nasir are two of the 20 job placements that we achieved this year. We are grateful to all employers that enable us to achieve social inclusion of our youth providing them with the tools to become active and responsible citizens building a future for themselves.

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A big thank you to the grassroots non-profit organization Allied Aid for fully covering the cost of purchase and installation of smoke detectors in all The HOME Project shelters, ensuring the safety of the children under our care

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We are grateful to Carry The Future volunteers who have helped us in so many ways: from tidying-up our storage, to potty training seminars for unaccompanied minor mothers with babies, also providing educational material in different languages for the mothers to come. If they can help one mother, they say, generations will be affected.

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We were thrilled to have with us The Libra Group intern Victor Dimas, a student in Political Science at Yale University. During the past two months Victor has been an invaluable helping hand, undertaking diverse tasks in the office and at the shelters and always smiling, no matter the occasional pressure of deadlines. Thank you Victor, we will miss you.

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Zina Wilde, a very talented actress, visits us every time she is in Greece. Like last time, she visited “The Shapiro Family” shelter for unaccompanied minor girls and minor mothers with their babies for a theatrical workshop. She focused on non-verbal communication, which is so relieving for children that don’t speak the same language.
Thank you Zina for your continuous support.

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Creative movement workshops are ongoing in many of our shelters by the team of the Project Guided Tours in Greece. Through their creative performance “Theory of Gravity”, by Raphael Fernandes, children are introduced in new rhythms and body movements that help them express their feelings and have fun.
Photos by Cayo Vieira

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Hundreds of kilos of unsold vegetables and fruits from farmers’ markets in Athens were offered to us by Boroume. Thank you for your continuous support and this win-win opportunity to both combat food waste and cover a significant part of food provision for children and youth under our care.

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Little K., aged 4, arrived with his minor mother from Congo at one of our shelters for unaccompanied girls a month ago. K. and his mother have shown great progress adjusting to this new environment, becoming part of our community. K. sometimes even engages as a little helper to shelter staff. Here you can see him helping out with assembling new furniture.

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Our urban garden on the roof of one of our shelters in Kypseli is growing, as a result of our collaboration with Professor Marc Simmons and his graduate students at the MIT School of Architecture and Planning who designed and constructed this innovative structure. This constitutes our first step in the implementation of our strategy to fight climate change by transforming our shelters into net-zero homes. In this effort, we are grateful for having great partners by our side: WWF Greece educating children under our care on best practices including urban farming and sustainability, the Εργαστήριο Ποιώ of the City of Athens under the scientific curation of TUC TIE Lab/Τransformable Intelligent Environments Laboratory of the Πολυτεχνείο Κρήτης / Technical University of Creteenabling the creation of MIT prototypes and Athens Partnership coordinating the collaboration with the City of Athens, as well as the expansion of the project on a larger scale.

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We are thrilled that our young C. 16 has been recruited and is now training at the PAO BC Academy, proving that equal access to opportunities and individualized care and support can transform children’s lives.

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Adam and Liliana, two high school students from New York have created the "Midas" product line supporting non-profit organizations. Adam, along with his father visited our shelter in Kallithea and experienced first-hand the impact of their support. Support instigated from the youth means even more to us. Thank you!

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We are grateful to the team of minor volunteers who dedicated time and effort to support our work in the shelters.
They helped us in the renovation of a playroom, offered support to minor mothers and babies and collected fruits and vegetables from farmers’ markets for our shelters with Μπορούμε. They are currently working on a storytelling project documenting our educational partnerships with private schools ACS Athens (American Community Schools) HAEF Athens College - Psychico College giving a voice to the children we care for. They are giving us hope with their empathy, engagement and creative ideas.

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There is nothing more moving than seeing the children that have received a holistic network of child protection services in our shelters taking the next step towards independence and social inclusion as adults. Like Sahar, who worked hard studying and acquiring skills, found a job, moved in an apartment, and now is ready to pursue her next goal, her next dream. Sahar was also one of the main speakers during the “School Project” Commencement ceremony in HAEF Athens College - Psychico College.

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We are so grateful for the immense help of 14 volunteers from College Year in Athens Political Economy of Greece students who helped us organize donations at our storage space and paint the playroom of our Socrates shelter.

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For children under our care who come of age, we seek to provide all necessary tools and opportunities that would enable them to become responsible, productive and independent citizens of society. So far, we have achieved 20 job placements mostly in the hospitality industry. Mamadou and Tiote are two of the six youngsters that have been happily employed by Aria Hotels in Crete, Sifnos, and Kimolos and are currently thriving. We are so proud of all of you.

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The children under our care are spending some of their summer break following a creative movement workshop conducted by our amazing volunteer Bianca Beneduzi learning how to use their body to express their feelings, discover new potential in themselves and bond as a community through dance.

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The children we care for are very much into sports and never miss an opportunity to get involved. This time, they had the chance to watch the game between Panathinaikos BC and ASP Promitheas for the finals of Basketball League at the Olympic Stadium of Athens (ΟΑΚΑ - Ολυμπιακό Αθλητικό Κέντρο Αθηνών Σπύρος Λούης. They had fun and learned some new tricks for their own training sessions.

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In one of the art therapy sessions kindly offered by Flourish Foundation, paints are used to help the children express their feelings through creativity. Thank you for offering this very important opportunity to children that need it so.

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Thank you Allou Fun Park for offering, once again, an evening of joy and fun to the unaccompanied girls and mothers with babies under our care. An integral part of our mission is to integrate these children into society by engaging them in activities that will make them feel like children again. Laughter and amusement are certainly crucial elements in that. 

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We are thrilled that the Co-OPERAtive project, an intercultural and collaborative opera hub for young people in which we participate as a partner of the Learning and Participation Department of the National Opera of Greece - Εθνική Λυρική Σκηνή won the 2019 Educational Prize by the European Fedora Platform. We are looking forward to contributing to the creation of the first opera hub for 60 Greek and unaccompanied refugee children in Athens.

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The school year is over, so, the children we care for went to Mycenae, on a trip organized by our valuable educational partner ACS Athens (American Community Schools). They got away from the buzz of the city and had fun while learning about one of the most important centers of Ancient Greek civilization and the making of its famous pottery.

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A big thank you to Unilever for standing by our side offering an “Olympiad of Joy” for children of The HOME Project at Paradise Park Athens. An evening of sports – soccer, relay race, and volleyball – workshops on cooking and recycling, delicious food, and lots of dancing. We were amazed by the number of volunteers/employees of Unilever Careers - Hellas, including top management, who were there with us, in their “Ask me” t-shirts and in high spirit, ready to support this big event in every way possible.

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The HOME Project CEO, Sofia Kouvelaki was one of the keynote speakers of the MeXOXO Commitment Day, a workshop with the aim to empower women, organized under the auspices of Mazinnov (French- Greek Innovation Network) and Ambassade de France en Grèce - Πρεσβεία της Γαλλίας στην Ελλάδα. In her speech, Sofia presented her views on the opportunities and challenges of being a woman leader in Greece.

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Swarmed by feelings of pride and accomplishment, the first group of students of The School Project, an educational partnership between The HOME Project and HAEF Athens College - Psychico College, graduated. 
Every Saturday the children attended classes at the school’s Psychico campus, where volunteer teachers would teach them Greek, English, Maths, Arts, Theater and Sports, always buddied up with Athens College students, acting as their mentors, helping and guiding them.
We were honored by the presence of Mary Pyatt, spouse of US Ambassador in Greece and Ed Shapiro, President of The Shapiro Foundation with his family. 
Congratulations to all! Looking forward to working together again for the second year of The School Project.

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Social inclusion means opening up opportunities for skills-building for the children we care for. Such was the amazing two-day cooking seminar offered by LE MONDE Institute to a dozen boys and girls, who will soon come of age, thus also gradually independent. We are grateful for this valuable support to the children. The seminar took place in the scope of the program Knorr Green Spaces, which is implemented by Unilever in collaboration with The HOME Project.

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A whole academic year has come to its end, and The HOME Project children -now graduates of the Youth to Youth program at the American Community Schools- feel accomplished and can dream about their future. Congratulations to all for your hard work and commitment!

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Τhe first green roof in one of our shelters is a fact. Professor Marc Simmons and his graduate students at the MIT School of Architecture + Planning were in Athens last week greening the roof of one of our shelters as the first step of The HOME Project aim to fight climate change by transforming our shelters into net-zero homes. In this effort, we are happy to have with us great partners: WWF Greece in educating the children under our care on best practices, beginning with urban farming and sustainability, the Maker Space of the City of Athens that played a key role it the creation of the MIT prototypes and Athens Partnership in coordinating the collaboration with the City of Athens, as well as the expansion of the project on a larger scale.

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It was a wonderful Friday night for all our guests, the staff and children of The HOME Project shelters at Plateia Dexamenis. Together, we celebrated #WorldRefugeeDay and #EuropeanMusicDay becoming one world, one voice, one rhythm. The amazing percussion ensemble, Quilombo Centro Cultural got the neighborhood together with their Brazilian beats. A big thank you to all the pro bono participants who followed and made this fest really big: Pavlina Voulgaraki and her guitarist George Kardianos, Petros Kourtis who instantaneously turned all of us into a small orchestra and the author of children’s books, Panagiota Strikou-Tomopoulou who organized old-time children’s games for the little ones, and not only. Last but not least a big thank you to Desmos and Cafe Dexameni that kindly offered the refreshments.

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Literature in Athens (Festival LEA - Sol Latino) is a Festival being organized every year in Athens since 2009. This year, its Director Adriana Martinez Guerrero kindly offered an art workshop for The HOME Project unaccompanied girls of the Shapiro Family shelter who had the opportunity to express themselves in colorful and creative ways.

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Unaccompanied minor girls and minor mothers with babies cared for by The HOME Project took a day trip to the Metropolitan Πάρκο Τρίτση -Parko Tritsito learn about the flora and fauna by experts of Elliniki Ornithologiki Etaireia and also visit the ‘Ark of Seeds”, an emblematic site that has represented Greece in the 12th La Biennale di Venezia exhibition.

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The Shapiro Foundation grants 18 full-time scholarships to The HOME Project for lone refugee children to realize their educational goals as they are embraced by ACS Athens, a premier educational institution. Read more here.

Today is World Environment Day. Climate change is one of the biggest causes of demographic change. Through our work at The HOME Project we feel it’s our duty to adjust our operations and transform our shelters into mitigators of climate change by combining the creation of healing environments for the children we care for with the implementation and dissemination of environmental best practices. This includes amongst others, children and staff training on urban farming at the heart of Athens.

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A sports outing was kindly organized by the San Diego State University students at ΜΙΛΩΝ Mini Soccer - ΑΟΝΣ "Ο Μίλων" (Sports Club of Nea Smyrni) for the children we care for at The HOME Project shelter in Kallithea who had a nice evening out playing soccer

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I., 17 arrived at our Socrates shelter last summer and was obviously a running aficionado. At first, he was covering huge distances in the city. Clearly committed and talented as he was, The HOME Project decided to have him register at a proper sports center. Since then, he has been participating at various running races filling us all with pride.

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Last night, at the ACS Sports Banquet 2019 we celebrated the year-long efforts in sports of the children from our shelters who participate in the Youth to Youth program along with the ACS Athens (American Community Schools) students. Our H., 15, was awarded the “Coach’s Award” for his commitment and team spirit in cross-country! Congratulations to the whole team!

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H. has recently graduated from his sponsored cooking lessons in the context of our vocational training for children we care for at The HOME Project shelters and he is now helping out the shelters’ cook, Mr. Nikos, to gain more experience.

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The HOME Project Child Protection Unit organized οn a pro bono basis a capacity building training for Σικιαρίδειο Ίδρυμα - Sikiarideio Foundation staff, to empower them in their remarkable effort to effectively support unaccompanied refugee children as well as underage children of refugees, in the framework of the Primary Social Care Program from own resources of the Attica Region in 2017, operated by the Foundation, entitled "Inclusion activities for minor migrants or refugees with disabilities in the Greek society".

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We are proud of Afzal who became an adult during his stay in one of our shelters. Afzal is now one of our Youth Ambassadors. He recently inspired a large audience of teenagers during the 35th Panhellenic Scouting Cultural Meeting organized in Volos by Ελληνικός Προσκοπισμός (Scouts of Greece) sharing some of his experiences as an unaccompanied minor as well as his dreams for the future.

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All staff working at The HOME Project shelters participated in a CPR &1st Aid training, kindly offered by Thodoris Varsamas of Life Support Team who demonstrated life-saving techniques in different types of emergencies.

 

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Liselle, Baloo, Lulu, Hiona and Blackie, all mixed-breed former strays, now rescued by the volunteers of SAPT Hellas were once again in one of our shelters for unaccompanied teenage boys. Some of the boys were initially scared of the dogs who have been trained to visit vulnerable groups for pet-assisted therapy sessions. No matter the children’s inhibitions, the dogs “would not take no for an answer” and, with time -employing their impeccable manners- managed to get the boys to pet them, while the team spoke about best practices around dogs.

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Happy May with a vegetable bouquet produced by the children we care for! In all our shelters, in the heart of the city, we have created seasonal vegetable gardens to enhance the healing environment of our homes, promote healthy dietary habits and help to combat climate change.

 

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Leisure time and strolls in the city for our little ones, boys and girls aged 6-12.

 

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Thank you #GoldenFruits.gr for your weekly generous donation of tens of kilos of apples in many varieties for all the children we care for at The HOME Project shelters!

 

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“Τhe freedom to express one’s identity and the coexistence of elements -such as nationality, culture, financial status- that in theory differentiate us, can create platforms of innovative ideas and creativity“. 
Thank you Αθηναϊκό - Μακεδονικό Πρακτορείο Ειδήσεων for interviewing Sofia Kouvelaki, CEO of The HOME Project and presenting our work at the Το Πρακτορείο magazine as part of the Making It Happen of U.S. EMBASSY ATHENS.

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It was an extraordinary Sunday afternoon full of Shakespeare for the children of three of The HOME Project shelters, thanks to the kind initiative of the Δραματική Σχολή Ωδείου Αθηνών / Athens Conservatoire Drama School. They played in their own unique way “Romeo and Juliet”, “The taming of the Shrew”, “The tempest” and “Α midsummer night’s dream”, “The Winter’s tale”, “12th night” and they received the warmest applause!

 

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The HOME Project participates as partner in the @Co-OPERAtive project, of the National Opera of Greece - Εθνική Λυρική Σκηνή Learning and Participation Department, the first in Europe to create an opera hub for a mixed group of 60 young Athenians and unaccompanied minor asylum seekers across Attica, that has passed in the second phase for the Education Prize of Fedora Platform

 

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Moments of joy in one of The HOME Project shelters for unaccompanied girls and minor mothers with their babies. The youngest member of our homes, who was born 5 months ago, enjoys a guitar recital performed just for him!

 

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Sofia Kouvelaki, CEO of The HOME Project, ambassador of civic engagement at the #makingithappen campaign of the U.S. EMBASSY ATHENS, shares her views in an interview at Το Πρακτορείο magazine, on how synergies between countries can enhance support to the most vulnerable.

 

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t’s always a pleasure to discuss with children their views on child protection, children’s rights, acceptance and social inclusion. This time we had the chance to talk with the 6th grade students of the HAEF Athens College - Psychico College Elementary School. 
A big thank you for the invitation!

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Empowering the children we care for with technical skills, useful for their future employment and social inclusion, is a priority for The HOME Project. In this photo, S. is learning how to sew a blouse as part of her vocational training.

 

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Vasilis Michailidis, Chief of staff at The HOME Project, presented our Child Protection Model for unaccompanied children at the international conference Women for Europe 9 - The Role of Inner Wheel , focusing on children's rights in the 21st century, organized in Syros by Inner Wheel Greece.

 

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We very much value our partnership with HAEF Athens College - Psychico College, the “School Project”, an innovative educational program bringing together the children we care for with Athens College students acting as peer tutors in Greek, English, mathematics, gymnastics, theatrical studies and art classes. Cultivating empathy, acceptance, and social inclusion through learning.

 

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Friday was a day celebrating community engagement and togetherness in Kypseli! The HOME Project team, the children from our shelters, neighbors and friends were all there to enjoy music and dance to the rhythms of Anasa Cultural Center, taste ethnic food - cooked by the kids we care for - and create a piece of art, under the guidance of Panagiotis Koulouras (ΠΑΝΑΓΙΩΤΗΣ ΚΟΥΛΟΥΡΑΣ), who kindly offered to organize an art workshop. A big thank you to our host, Kypseli Municipal Market (Δημοτική Αγορά Κυψέλης), Δεσμός - Desmos for fully covering the refreshments for the event, the volunteers for their help and all the people who joined us!

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One year has been completed since the generous donation of The Shapiro Foundation that funded the creation of the Shapiro Family shelter for unaccompanied girls and minor mothers with their babies. We are deeply grateful for this invaluable support that has made a huge difference in our children’s lives. During this one year, 32 girls have found a home and have received a holistic network of services by our Child Protection Unit, while 7 children were reunified with their families. Furthermore, The Shapiro Foundation offers 18 full time scholarships at the ACS Athens (American Community Schools) for our children, maximizing the impact of their support.

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How do our everyday habits and choices affect the environment and our economy? WWF Greece has kindly offered to visit all The HOME Project shelters and make a presentation to raise environmental awareness and help children understand their role in saving natural resources.

 

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So proud of our AnnaMaria Kountouri, legal officer at The HOME Project, for being shortlisted as a finalist for the #UKAlumniAwards2019 in the social impact category, an important recognition of her legal work with unaccompanied children. Congratulations Anna Maria!

 

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It was a week full of meetings and new ideas and we feel that both MIT School of Architecture + Planning and The HOME Project teams made the most of the students’ stay in Athens, who are working on turning our shelters into net-zero homes and creating urban farming spaces. It concluded with a focus group tailored to our children who have just become adults. Last stop, a visit at the Δήμος Αθηναίων Maker Space Laboratory, for a demonstration of its top-notch machinery for the do-it-yourself manufacturing of various prototypes.

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Kick off meeting with Professor Marc Simmons and his students of MIT School of Architecture + Planning, students of the Agricultural University of Athens and representatives from the Maker Space of Δήμος Αθηναίων(under the scientific curation of TUC TIE Lab of Πολυτεχνείο Κρήτης / Technical University of Crete), Athens Partnership, Εθνικό Μετσόβιο Πολυτεχνείο - National Technical University of Athens and WWF Greece to explore synergies and ways to improve the livelihoods of the children we care for. A big thank you to WWF Greece for hosting us all!

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Mission accomplished! Finally, all in-kind donations we receive have their special-labeled place in our storage space, making our work so much more efficient. A big thank you to the “master organizers” of Carry The Future for all the help!

 

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We celebrate the World Day of Poetry with a poem written by N. from our “Socrates” shelter, one of the 18 full-time ACS Athens (American Community Schools) students of The Shapiro Foundation scholarship program.

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The HOME Project Executive Director, Sofia Kouvelaki was invited to present our work to the iforU Greek Mentoring Network event at Pasteur Institute. She explained how our child protection model is applied to create a healing environment for unaccompanied refugee children supporting their social inclusion. A big thank you to Danae Bezantakou, President of iforU, for giving us the opportunity to present our work and kudos to our Youth Ambassador, Narges for the photo!

 

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“In my country they say: if you win, don’t be too happy and if you lose don’t be too sad.” This is what 16- year-old S. said right after his kickboxing tournament to Marios Dakis, Psychologist of the “Orion” shelter, who accompanied him at the game. By participating in this event, S. came closer to his dream, stayed focused and won, making us all very proud.

 

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We are always open to synergies that offer opportunities for the children we care for at The HOME Project shelters to learn more about our history and culture, enabling their social inclusion. An excellent example of such a collaboration was the kind initiative of CISV Greece volunteers, who joined the girls of the Pugad Shelter, operated in collaboration with Melissa Network and Kasapi Hellas, for a Sunday guided tour to the Archeological museum.

 

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Creating a healing environment for the children we care for in The HOME Project shelters is a demanding process. For this reason, our Child Protection Unit organized yesterday at Σεράφειο Δήμου Αθηναίων - Serafio City of Athens a capacity building training for our English speaking staff with the aim to empower them in their pedagogical role.

 

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Efficiency is key to our operations in The HOME Project and we are always grateful for receiving support that enables us to function in the most effective way. Like the example of the students from College Year in Athens, who dedicated time and effort helping us organize in-kind donations in our storage space.

 

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The “Youth to Youth” program at ACS Athens (American Community Schools) which brings together kids from The HOME Project shelters and ACS Athens students, participating in athletic activities, art, music, computer and language support classes, has just completed its second year! Last Saturday at the school campus, the kids enjoyed a birthday cake and described how they feel to be part of an educational program that enhances diversity, tolerance and creative thinking.

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[email protected] aspires to create a community for "Ιdeas Worth Spreading for Kids". Our little ones, boys and girls aged 6-12, from The HOME Project Little Pugad shelter operated in collaboration with Melissa Network and Kasapi Hellas were there for the event "Travel in time". They watched their peers talk about where they want to be living at 35, their dream jobs, their family status and hobbies and had the chance to think about their future.

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We are grateful for the solidarity and humanism that results from the noble collaboration of individuals and private institutions for a good cause. Last weekend, Professor Vasilios A. Zerris MD, MPH, MSc, FAANS and ΥΓΕΙΑ joined forces and undertook pro bono the surgery and hospitalization for one of the children we care for at The HOME Project shelters, leading by example and giving us hope and faith that synergies can create sustainable and beneficial ecosystems of social support.

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Empowering our staff to respond effectively to the needs of the children we care for in The HOME Project shelters is a key priority.
The two-day capacity building training organized by our Child Protection Unit aimed to educate staff in identifying signs of abuse in children’s behavior and present different models of functional daily management of children’s behaviors. The training was hosted at Serafio City of Athens in collaboration with Europe Direct City of Athens

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How do the children feel when they first enter your homes? Does Santa visit you? How do the children understand lessons at school since they don’t speak Greek? Do they go on vacations? Do they have access to technology? Do they have PlayStation?
These are only few of the questions that we were asked last Friday by the 5th and 6th graders of the Psychico College Elementary School, proving that empathy between children comes in a natural way. Like their older peers, students of HAEF Athens College - Psychico College, who volunteer for the “School Project”, buddying up with 20 children from The HOME Project shelters.Thank you!

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"My mission is to tell you the story and then you decide what you want to do. My mission is to make sure that nobody can say: I didn't know." Yannis Behrakis

He will always be an inspiration for his tireless efforts to make the world care via his powerful images. We will miss him

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With a view to empower and enhance motivation, the staff together with the children of The HOME Project Orion shelter worked hard to make their living room a cozier space. On their newly created “Wall of Fame” , they are celebrating the boys’ academic and sports achievements, featuring 11 diplomas and 7 medallions!

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On March 2nd at 12:00, our Executive Director, Sofia Kouvelaki participated in a panel discussion organized by We Need Books, exploring how literature can help in creating a more tolerant society, trained in empathy. The panel comprises of several key co-panelists, including Gulwali Passarlay, a human rights activist and author of "A Lightless Sky" who was last in Athens as an unaccompanied minor, much like those The HOME Project cares for in its shelters. Join us to discuss and find ways to promote social inclusion and acceptance of “otherness”.

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F. , 16, is from Pakistan. After traveling alone, he arrived in Greece in the Fall and has now applied for asylum. F. is now safe in the healing environment of The HOME Project “Orion” shelter. He attends school and -as every child we care for- follows an individual development plan that our Child Protection Unit (CPU) has designed for him. This picture is taken during a mental health session with the shelter’s psychologist

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26 volunteers from different groups of Scouts of Greece - Ελληνικός Προσκοπισμός - joined us last weekend to help organize in-kind donations at our storage space. Thank you so much!

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Thank you Marie Claire Greece magazine for including our Executive Director Sofia Kouvelaki in the article “50 women that inspire us today”

 

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On Valentine’s Day, Maria Kaldani and Fotis Parthenides, partners in life and at work - in their capacity as the Scientific Supervisors for The HOME Project – were invited on portokaliradio.gr in a dedicated to Médecins du Monde Greece - Γιατροί του Κόσμου broadcast with Elli Xenou and Nikos Kalakos. They spoke about unaccompanied refugee children, pointing out that integration of these children is key.
#nochildalone

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We are grateful to Library4all for its donation -for yet another time- of books, from the #Bookwave2019 event, which found their place at The HOME Project “Little Pugad” shelter for unaccompanied children aged 6-13 operated by Melissa Network and Kasapi Hellas

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The birthday -and not only - parties for the girls and mothers with babies of the Shapiro Family shelter, an idea conceptualized by Josie, Zoe and Ramzi, three inspired students of St. Catherine's British School, are there to remind us that all children need celebrations and laughter in their life. This time, the party was held on the school grounds with the girls and boys enjoying a wonderful day with cake and artsy drawings.

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The HOME Project has partnered, together with ARSIS - Association for the Social Support of Youth, with the Εθνική Λυρική Σκηνή (Greek National Opera) Learning and Participation Department for the Co-OPERAtive project, the first in Europe to create an opera hub for a mixed group of 60 young Athenians and unaccompanied minor asylum seekers across Attica, that has been shortlisted for the Education Prize of Fedora. 
Every vote will count!

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What is education? Is it the pure acquisition of knowledge? Or is it much more than that? This is what The HOME Project children participating in the “School Project” - in partnership with the HAEF Athens College - Psychico College - together with their peer tutors talked, wrote messages and drew about.

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We were honored to be invited to co-host the KinderDocs International Documentary Festival for Children and Young People. After watching three short documentaries on crucial child protection issues, our Executive Director Sofia Kouvelaki, together with the former Ombudsman for Children, Giorgos Moschos, engaged the children from the audience to ask questions, express their feelings about the films and their ideas on how one can help children outside of a system of protection. Then, it was time for a fun action with Veryoung Contemporaryart who asked the children, including 4 of the children we have cared for at The HOME Project shelters, who are now adults, to write their dreams on a piece of paper and then make an origami. Imran wrote “I want to be a chef”. The event was hosted by Kinderdocs and The Norwegian Embassy in Athens, Greece, at the Peiraios 138 Benaki Museum. 

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A big thank you to The Hellenic Initiative for its invaluable support to The HOME Project covering part of the psychiatric supervision and psychological support services of the mental health program that supports children and youth that have fled war, poverty and persecution. The HOME Project within its first two years of operation has provided housing, care, education and social integration services to more than 350 children while providing more than 120 jobs in its 11 shelters in Athens. Read full press release

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On February 3rd, our Executive Director Sofia Kouvelaki will participate in the KinderDocs International Documentary Festival for Children and Young People along with the former Ombudsman for Children, Giorgos Moschos, following the showing of 3 short documentary films on pressing child protection issues: Children refugees, Child Labor and Children’s Dreams. The event is hosted by Kinderdocs and The Norwegian Embassy in Athens, Greece, at the Peiraios 138 Benaki Museum. Join us for a very interesting discussion and fun actions for children with Veryoung Contemporaryart.

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The 2nd cycle of our child protection capacity building and staff training was completed last week for all professionals working under The HOME Project​ umbrella: our valued partners Iliaktida Amke, Melissa Network and Kasapi Hellas and ARSIS - Association for the Social Support of Youth. This cycle was focused on human rights and entailed many role-playing exercises to enable the staff to relate to situations in the shelters and best support the children we care for. Once again, we are grateful to The Municipality of Athens  for kindly conceding the space.

 

In our line of work there’s increased need and responsibility for the staff of The HOME Project and its invaluable partners  to receive special training on an ongoing basis, in order to enable them to support the children we care for in the best possible way. Our newly restructured Child Protection Unit just completed the first capacity building session. We are grateful to The Municipality of Athens for kindly conceding the space.

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We would like to thank Marianna Kakaounaki and Kathimerini Sunday Edition  for helping us shed light on the case of two siblings from Afghanistan who were under The HOME Project care and departed for the Netherlands following approval of their application to reunify with family there. Now, they are facing the risk of being deported back to their country where their life is in danger. The HOME Project staff have been trying for the past 13 months to mobilize all available support mechanisms. There are currently another 4 similar cases accommodated by us. Read more here and help us defend crucial aspects of child protection. The article was also published on January 28th, in the Kathimerini English Edition

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We are thrilled to announce our new educational partnership with HAEF Athens College - Psychico College for the “School Project”, bringing together 20 unaccompanied refugee children under our care, with more than 40 volunteer students acting as peer tutors and teachers, in an innovative learning and social integration experience, taking Greek, English, Mathematics, Gymnastics, Theatrical studies and Art classes at the school campus.

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Head on a platter, the kaleidoscope, the holograms and the rotated rooms were a few of the illusions The HOME Project children experienced in the Museum of Illusions Athens this week, where they were kindly granted free access; the exhibits are meant to be enjoyed by all, from kindergarten to retirees equally, and the children of the Socrates shelter for unaccompanied boys absolutely loved them. Thank you Museum of Illusions Athens for enabling them to feel like children again.

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There is after all a Secret Santa for all The HOME project children attending the ACS Athens either with full-time scholarships or for the "Youth to Youth" and "Business to Youth" Programs. Just before the holiday season, the children jotted down their wishes and then, in January, their peers, together with faculty at ACS made them come true in a special event of gifts’ exchange but, more importantly, of happiness and broad smiles.

We were very happy and honored to have with us George Logothetis, Chairman and CEO of our founder The Libra Group​, accompanied by former US Ambassador to Greece, Thomas J. Miller, and his wife, Bonnie, at the Shapiro Family shelter for unaccompanied girls and underage mothers with babies. Our management team and the shelter staff were there to welcome them and our guests talked with the girls about their dreams, their daily life in school, extracurricular activities but also vocational training, for those closer to adulthood.

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It's really cold these days in Greece but The HOME Project shelters in Athens are nowhere close to snow-covered areas. Some of the children we care for have never seen snow and they are really eager to play with it. So, they took the second-best route and made a delicious vegan snowman instead.

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We are happy to welcome the new year with our newly restructured Child Protection Unit (CPU) providing social, psychological, pedagogical and educational support via individual development plans for each child we care for. A vital element of our work is the continuous training and supervision of the staff working under The HOME Project umbrella. We are grateful to the IKEA Foundation for enabling us to scale up our operations and offer a holistic network of services to our children -coupled by the necessary support structure for all professionals- helping children feel like children again.

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The HOME Project management staff and a few of the children  we have cared for -now adults - celebrated our second birthday and of course decorated the office Christmas tree.

Wishing a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all our friends and supporters!

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The European Scout Region and its partners in the Time to be Welcome project, among them the Scouts of Greece, invited The HOME Project Scientific Supervisor Maria Kaldani to participate to a four-day event in Brussels along with many members of National Scout Organisations (NSOs) of the World Organization of the Scout Movement - WOSM, titled "Hand in Hand. Stronger together". The event addressed questions and participants shared best practices related to how associations can reach out and include refugees and migrants in Scouting. The event is co-funded by the Erasmus+ Programme, the KAICIID International Dialogue Centre, and the Messengers of Peace Support Fund.

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The 10 year Maplerun anniversary celebration concert at Temple Athens was a pure success. The band had decided to offer all proceeds to The HOME Project and their efforts were also joined by the UNITY by Haris Ragavis stores to cover clothing needs for the children we care for. Plus, 40 (!) of the children and The HOME Project staff were kindly invited to attend the concert to celebrate the band's big day together with all its fans. Thank you Maplerun, everyone had a lot of fun and danced to wonderful rock music Wishing you to celebrate many more anniversaries.

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In our line of work there’s increased need and responsibility for the staff of The HOME Project and its invaluable partners Iliaktida Amke, Melissa Network and Kasapi Hellas and ARSIS - Association for the Social Support of Youth to receive special training on an ongoing basis, in order to enable them to support the children we care for in the best possible way. Our newly restructured Child Protection Unit just completed the first capacity building session. We are grateful to The Municipality of Athens for kindly conceding the space.

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They have a very just name: Surfers 4 Life. This wonderful group of people lovingly and zealously prepared 86 (!) delicious meals for the children of The HOME Project shelters. Delicious pasta with sauce, lentils with rice and briam. They cooked it in Rafina and hand-delivered them to one of our shelters in central Athens which in turn shared meals with another close-by shelter. Thank you Surfers for Life!

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Our community building event was a blast for over 200 (!) friends and supporters of The HOME Project who attended. Together with the neighborhood of one of our shelters, we had delicious food from the many countries of origin of the children we care for, danced to the rhythms of Anasa Cultural Center and laughed our hearts out with The Flying Seagull Project and the uplifting magic tricks of Ash Perrin.

We would like to warmly thank the Municipality of Athens 6th District for kindly granting us the permit for the street event and Desmos NGO for providing all the sodas for our guests.

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Desmos has been consistently standing by The HOME Project and the children we care for. This time, Christos Paikopoulos and Panagiotis Batakis hand-delivered Christmas gifts, toys and games, to the children of the Little Pugad shelter -who jumped in to enjoy them right away - and the babies of underage mothers of the Pugad shelter, officially bringing them the holiday season and big smiles on their faces.

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A big thank you to the Dinosaurs amusement and theme park for offering free passes to all the children and the staff of the “Socrates” shelter. The visit was expectedly a lot of fun and the pictures they took so telling of the children’s joy, all children’s undeniable right.

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Thank you Η ΚΑΘΗΜΕΡΙΝΗ and Niko Efstathiou for his article «Destruction as a force of renaissance” portraying, with an outstanding sensitivity and inspiration our recent trip to Ancient Messini, to learn its history and visit the museum and the archaeological site where the emblematic city once stood. All seen under the guidance of the President of the Society of Messenian Archaeological Studies, Prof. Petros Themelis. The children cared for by The HOME Project did a symbolic reforestation, which soon after inspired others. Read more in the article

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We were very happy to welcome George Logothetis, Chairman and CEO of our founder The Libra Group who honored us with a visit at the Shapiro Family shelter. He was accompanied by The HOME Project management team and had very interesting discussions with shelter staff and girls we care for about their current education plan and their dreams for the future.

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The Maplerun Band chose to raise funds for The HOME Project through the band’s 10-year anniversary show, which is one not-to-be-missed! When young, talented people do this, our strive to help as many children as possible is … wildly boosted!

Watch their Official Trailer

We all had such a good time at the 2018 Athens Authentic Marathon. Staff from The HOME Project office and shelters joined children from the Orion and Socrates shelter and ACS Athens Youth to Youth students and members of the school’s administration to run the 5km race.

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The HOME Project announces €4 million grant from the IKEA Foundation

• The new grant will enable The HOME Project to house and care for 100 unaccompanied refugee children for the next three years
• The HOME Project has already supported more than 300 children and created more than 130 jobs

(Link).

A media event was held on November 6th, 2018 announcing the new IKEA Foundation Grant. The event was organized by V+O Communication which supports The HOME Project on a probono basis. 

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Ζ is one of the girls of the Shapiro Family shelter. Like all children cared for by The HOME Project she goes to school and participates in several activities as part of her individual development plan, a primary focus of our child protection unit.

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On Saturdays, all children of The HOME Project shelters take time to relax before doing their school homework for the week ahead. The children of the Socrates shelter use their wonderful outdoor space for some much needed physical exercise.

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An Indian recipes cooking workshop was offered to the girls of the Pugad shelter by the lovely Time to be Welcome volunteers Kirsty and Irene

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All children cared for by The HOME Project attend school and for that, they need school supplies, a lot of them actually. We are so grateful to our friends and supporters for enabling us to purchase everything (!) the children need for the school year ahead.

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Josie, Zoe and Ramzi from St. Catherine's British School had the marvelous idea of organizing birthday parties for the girls of The HOME Project shelters. In itself, one might think, this not a big thing. Only, unaccompanied minors usually have the same birthday... January 1st of this or that year, depending on when the authorities estimate them to have been born. So, this week, the girls met with the first group of the Shapiro Family shelter and talked things out so this can become a reality for them. Because birthdays are symbols of differentiation, of self and all children deserve that.

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We are so proud of our Youth Representatives Nargis and Amadou who are now, as adults, an integral part of The HOME Project team, volunteering every day at our offices and operations. Today they helped us in the food supplies of our shelters, collecting fruits and vegetables from the Gyzi farmers' market with Μπορούμε NGO and Time to be Welcome volunteers.

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"Two charity organizations (in Athens) are successfully changing lives, child by child"
“On that particular day, we broke our “record” of collected produce”, says Cambouropoulou of Boroume NGO, “gathering 589 kilos that we offered to The HOME Project shelters!” Economou added that “the amount of fresh fruit and vegetables, which were very substantial, were equally distributed to our 11 shelters, much to our children’s delight and always in line with our standards of healthy nutrition”.
Thank you Greek City Times for showcasing our innovative collaboration with "Boroume", collecting fruits and vegetables from farmers’ markets in Athens with the participation of volunteers and children of The HOME Project shelters, proving how volunteer work, combating food waste and child protection can lead to new forms of community building.

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Moments like these inspire us to continue fighting for our cause. Watch here Yassin, one of the boys –who, as a minor, enjoyed the safety and healing environment of our Orion shelter – now as an adult - reuniting with his family in Germany.

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I.K is 16 and recently came to our Socrates shelter. As soon as he settled in, he asked to meet a dog. Then, when the visit by SAPT Hellas was arranged, other boys jumped at the opportunity and asked to participate. The guests of honor on this day were none other than the group's four-legged, mixed-breed, formerly stray, now adopted and trained therapy dogs, Hiona and Bigla. Thank you people for this wonderful and relaxing time!

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Art includes all. The visually, hearing, physically impaired but also those speaking a different language. All, including many of the children we care for at The HOME Project shelters -some of who are full-time students at the ACS Athens through a scholarship program of The Shapiro Foundation - had a very pleasant evening watching the theatrical play "Solon and Croesus" staged and performed by the IRIS group, at the specially designed and accessible Euripides Theater of Rematia and in the context of the Rematia Festival 2018 .

After watching the play, Maher said, “I knew that money is not everything”. True, solidarity is everything.

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So great to have back with us The Flying Seagull Project for an extended time, experiencing the power of laughter and physical play. All together we can be more effective in addressing this crisis and enabling children to feel like children again

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“A room without books is like a body without a soul.”
Thank you We Need Books for providing us with wonderful books in Arabic, Farsi, English and Greek for the children we care for.

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September 6th, 2018 was the first day of school for the 18 children selected to become full time American Community Schools students, a program enabled by The Shapiro Foundation. Some of them could not even wait for the school bus to pick them up and were at the school since early morning. A new day, a new beginning. We are all very proud of them.

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Our Executive Director Sofia Kouvelaki will be one of the speakers in a panel on "Accompanying Unaccompanied Child Refugees: The challenges facing advocates and activists" which aims to provide solutions, by combining academic and on the ground experience, and is organized by Harvard University's FXB Center for Health and Human Rights in collaboration with the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs and the Harvard Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, on September 26th at the CGIS Lounge on the Harvard campus.

Speakers: Jacqueline Bhabha (FXB Center at HSPH), Sofia Kouvelaki (The Home Project, Athens), and Vidur Chopra (HGSE). Chair: Melani Cammett (Harvard Government Department).

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There are currently more than 8,000 people currently in living in Moria refugee camp with infrastructures that can only accommodate less than 2,000. The vulnerability of all the population living in these criminally dehumanizing conditions is very high. However, the toll of this situation on children and youth can cause irreparable damage in terms of both physical and mental health. We are witnessing these effects in the increasingly worsening condition of the children we care for when they arrive at our shelters. The need for housing and appropriate mental health services is urgent. All relevant stakeholders need to join forces to implement immediate solutions.

 

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On September 27th, 2018, the Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs of Brown University is organizing an important discussion on "Responding to the Global Refugee Crisis at Home and Abroad" under the Humanitarian Innovation Initiative and have invited our Executive Director Sofia Kouvelaki, a Brown University alumna to participate as an expert panelist and Omar Bah, Founder and Executive Director of The Refugee Dream Center. The discussion will be moderated by Dr. Adam Levine, Director of the Humanitarian Innovation Initiative at Brown.

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A few days before the close of the summer football camp of Earth Refugee, all participating children under our care were invited to spend a lovely afternoon at Organization Earth's Center of the Earth which included a healthy dinner made of vegetables grown in the center's own garden, petting the horses, team games and a lot of relaxation, all close to nature 

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Reporter Alexia Amvrazi of Greek City Times did a live report at the Ano Ilissia Farmers’ Market to cover and share the praiseworthy efforts of Boroume to collect fruit and vegetables for the children we care for at The HOME Project.

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Nargis, until recently a lone refugee minor girl who was staying at The HOME Project's Shapiro Family shelter, is now happily employed and working in the beautiful island of Santorini. We would like to extend a big thank you to Grace Santorini for this opportunity, showcasing the crucial role of the private sector in creating jobs and integrating these children into our society.

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The staff and the children of the Socrates shelter created a healing room along with the support of The HOME Project' Scientific Supervisor Fotis Parthenides reorganizing spaces of the building, transforming them into a comforting environment and creating the needed emotional safety for our children, to attend psychotherapeutic sessions, receive legal services, relax outdoors and conduct team building activities.
We are grateful to all of our in-kind donation supporters for enabling us to create this space.

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Through active engagement and participation, youth significantly contributes to our community. A big thank you to students of College Year in Athens who volunteered with us, painted the ground floor of our Socrates shelter and then, in exhilaration for a job well done, danced with all the shelter’s children.

Thank you Allou! Fun Park for an evening of joy and amusement to children that we care for and who are living at the “Orion” and the "Socrates" shelters. Part of our mission is to integrate these kids into society via activities that will make them feel like children again. Laughter and amusement are crucial elements in doing that.

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Maria Kaldani, our Scientific Supervisor was invited to the St. Thomas University School of Law Human Trafficking Academy in Miami, U.S.A. to give a presentation on our child protection program. In collaboration with trauma specialists, Judith Bachay Ph.D. and Martha L Vallejo, offered a training seminar to students in order to prepare them for a visit to a detention center in Texas for legal support to asylum seeking women and children.

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The children of the Orion shelter gathered first aid items and medicines to support the injured of the wild-urban fires of Mati and Rafina that will be sent out to collection points today with a sweet note “your pain is our pain”. Their empathy is to be expected, as, in one way or another they too have been in such a position, traumatized and fleeing from what they used to call home, from one minute to the next.

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This is a sign the girls of the "Shapiro Family" shelter bought and hung at the entrance of their home.

“This is how we feel here", they said.

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The very talented actress Zina Wilde, a continuous supporter of The HOME Project, conducted a very special theatrical workshop for the girls of the “Shapiro Family” shelter focusing on self-esteem building, non-verbal communication and breathing exercises. Thank you Zina; Looking forward to having you again with us!

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Thank you initiative Earth Refugee, for offering 57 children from The HOME Project shelters an amazing 8-week summer football camp in cooperation with UNICEF, the @youridjorkaefffoundation and Οργάνωση Γη - Organization Earth. With schools closed for the summer, daily sports and Friday events is the best "recipe" to nurture and empower the body and spirit of lone refugee children, a continuous effort in which such support is truly invaluable.

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Our daily efforts are focused on breaking cultural and social barriers and empowering lone refugee children we care for. Last night, on World Refugee Day, for yet another time, through music and dance -with Anasa Cultural Center- and food -with the support of Μπορούμε- we celebrated alike efforts to stand with refugees, joined also by people of the neighborhood around one of The HOME Project shelters and visitors from all over the world.

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The HOME Project is thankful as, for yet another summer, we have had a lot of interested volunteers that will be supporting the children we care for at The HOME Project shelters. From lessons in languages, dance, IT, to shopping, preparing and cooking food to even tagging along with shelter staff and children in outdoor activities of all sorts, like sports and the movies. Thank you all, you are presenting the children with the opportunity to learn, have fun and make new friends

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Thank you The Whiffenpoofs, one of the oldest collegiate a Cappella groups, seniors of Yale University, for offering a concert to The HOME Project children. The young men sang many songs from their broad repertoire and their audience were unaccompanied girls and mothers with babies from the Shapiro Family and Pugad shelters. It was a therapeutic experience for everybody. Also thank you Melina & Nefeli, the two underage girls who came to visit us to discuss this incredible idea.

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Thank you Μπισκότα Παπαδοπούλου for your generous donation. Biscuits, cereal bars and crackers… loved since… forever and until today. You made the mornings of the children we care for at The HOME Project shelters so much sweeter and healthier.

On June 2nd, in celebration of the 40 years of HAEF Athens College - Psychico College the last show of the year “Our own Alphabet” (Η δική μας Αλφαβήτα), organized by the Athens College Fund Drive Κολλέγιο Αθηνών Κολλέγιο Ψυχικού and performed by the 6th graders was an emotional evening. Students, teachers, families and alumni were all there to watch the play. The HOME Project would like to thanks the play’s producer, Francesca Spengos-Kardasilaris ('00), for including a message of our team in the scene Niazome (Νοιάζομαι - I care): 
Girl #4 – “Yes madam, terrorism and war drive so many people away from their homes. I care about all these refugees finding safety and restarting their lives. The other day, I saw a baby in a flea-market lug (or basket)”. (Asking in a demanding tone to get an answer): “What is a baby doing in a flea-market basket?” The Home Project. 
Proceeds of the play will be funneled to the College’s Fund Drive

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Thank you Hellenic American University for your support. The HOME Project was distinguished and awarded the President’s Community Partner award for 2018. This is an annually granted award aimed at a non-profit organization that enhances the quality of life in the community in meaningful and measurable ways and is engaged in the development of sustained, reciprocal partnerships with the Hellenic American University.

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On Friday, June 1st, 2018, the children who participated in the 3rd cycle of the Youth to Youth and Business to Youth programs, a remarkable and pioneering collaboration of the ACS Athens (American Community Schools) and The HOME Project graduated. Pride, knowledge and inclusion, all the necessary equipment for life are there, in the minds and hearts of them all and our hearts too. Thank you ACS Athens for all the support; Your administration, teachers and students together have made a huge difference.

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Mamadou, an unaccompanied minor who was staying at The HOME Project's Socrates shelter until recently, now, an independent adult and working in a hotel in the beautiful island of Kimolos. His smile reflects the sense of pride he’s feeling. Thank you Aria Hotels for the chance you gave him, also proving the ever important role of the private sector in creating jobs for these children. The integration of refugee-children who arrive in Greece all alone in search of a safe place is key to the success of our efforts.

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Thank you Locus Athens and the Stagones team for offering our children from Orion and Kallithea shelters the opportunity to participate in the COB workshop inside the GEOmetries exhibition at the Agricultural University of Athens. After mixing sand, clay, water and hay with their hands and feet, the children built a small, yet sturdy wall and had a fun and very creative afternoon. 

Our work was recognized by The Hellenic Initiative at the Hellenic Initiative 3rd Annual London Event. It is an honor and a pleasure to feel that we are not alone in our efforts to provide support, protection, education and social integration services to refugee children that arrive alone to Greece. Our Executive Director Sofia Kouvelaki received the award on behalf of all The HOME Project team. We would like to dedicate this award to our supporters, to our partners on the ground and to all the children living in our shelters.

Thank you St. Catherine's British School for inviting The HOME Project on premises for a presentation of our work. Our Scientific Supervisor Ms. Maria Kaldani spoke to more than 150 upper school children. Plus, under the initiative of students, this day was also designated as "Pizza Sale” day, with proceeds directly supporting The HOME Project. 

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Thank you ΑΝΙΜΑ - Σύλλογος Προστασίας και Περίθαλψης Άγριας Ζωής for this Sunday’s trip on mountain Parnitha. The day was dedicated to freedom and children from the Little Pugad and Shapiro Family shelters released into the wild two young turtles –which they named Syria and Allemania (Germany)- and a female hawk –which they named Ellada (Greece). The young hawk had been found with a broken wing and was hospitalized in ANIMA’S vet station -for 4 months- in order to recuperate and be able to fly again. 
Before we left this beautiful scenery, the children played games with Stefanos Ganotis, volunteer for #ΑΝΙΜΑ and scouts from the Time to be Welcome Program. 
We had real fun but the action also symbolized a lot for unaccompanied children found stranded in Greece

Thank you for this innovative partnership MIT School of Architecture + Planning and Marc Simmons for working for the benefit of the children we care for at The HOME Project shelters. These amazing illustrations reflect your skills and inspiration in making the children’s lives better and in turn strengthen our will and efforts to continue our work even more.

Thank you Pentheroudakis Jewelry for supporting The HOME Project's shelters for unaccompanied children with the design of a limited edition pendant "All I See is Magic".

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The Hellenic Initiative is doing great work to support entrepreneurship and humanitarian issues in Greece and is hosting a fundraiser event on Wednesday May 16th at The Dorchester in London. Funds raised will support The HOME Project mission in providing support, protection, education and social integration services to unaccompanied refugee children in Greece, and Elpida Youth, a non-profit organization caring for the psychological wellbeing of children suffering from cancer. 
To support and learn more visit: http://bit.ly/2IJTBDV

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Thank you Jeddah Group.We are delighted and fortunate to see that we are not alone. Five amazing couples from Jeddah, Nour and Hisham, Lina and Mo, Yasmine and Mo, Rimi and Amr & Assia and Salman head off to climb three challenging peaks (Snowdon, Wales-Ben Nevis, Scotland-Scafell Pike, England) to raise awareness and funds for The HOME Project's work.

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Thank you Kathimerini English Edition for showcasing our work and its positive impact to the neighborhoods of Athens. Joining forces makes us all more efficient in addressing this crisis.

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Thank you Agrino for the donation of 200 kgs of rice for the children we shelter and care for at The HOME Project's homes.

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DID YOU KNOW: According to latest official data by ΕΚΚΑ (The National Center for Social Solidarity), since the beginning of 2016, 12,022 unaccompanied refugee children have been registered in Greece. At the moment, 2,200 of them live outside of any protection system, in the streets, police stations, detention centers and overcrowded camps with no access to basic care, services, nor any information on their rights. Please share and/or consider supporting –in any way- the mission of @The HOME Project: our homes and the holistic network of services we apply help these children “be and feel seen” by meeting their need for safety, education and social integration. You can now support children traveling and arriving in Europe all alone via The HOME Project.

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We were delighted and honored to have Ed Shapiro founder of The Shapiro Foundation with us. Thank you for enabling us to create the “Shapiro family” shelter for unaccompanied minor girls and minor mothers with babies, supported by the Shapiro Foundation. We are grateful for the time Ed Shapiro spent with our staff and the children living in The HOME Project shelters. 

Thank you Athens Voice Radio and Stefanos Dandolos for the radio time he offered to Sofia Kouvelaki, Executive Director of The HOME Project for the Athens community to be informed about the organization's aims and the holistic model it applies to cover the needs of unaccompanied minors in our country.

 

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The “The HOME Project non-profit organization” with the distinctive title “The HOME Project”  and the non-profit organization “Iatriki Paremvasi” with the distinctive title “Med-In (Medical Intervention)” hereby state that as of April 15^th, 2018, the two organizations mutually agreed to dissolve, with no further claims, their collaboration concerning the unaccompanied minors’ shelters operating in a) 15A Diogenous Laertiou (Irida Girls – shelter for unaccompanied minor girls b) 26, Filippidou Street (Irida Boys – shelter for unaccompanied minor boys), c) 12, Kallergi Street (Estia – shelter for unaccompanied minor boys) and d) 89, Alkamenous Street (Little Prince shelter), in Athens. These shelters continue to be operated by “The HOME Project” under its diligence and responsibility.

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Thank you Αθήνα9.84 Official Group and Maria Pavlou (Alla Nea?” broadcast) for her interest in our work and offering radio time to Sofia Kouvelaki, Executive Director of The HOME Project, for her to relay important messages and information on our work.

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Thank you The Flying Seagull Project for an afternoon of healing laughter and games for our youngest children at one of The HOME Project shelters. We are thankful for the creative ways our community comes together to ensure that each of these kids have the protection, care, opportunity and fun that they deserve. We are looking forward to dreaming and playing together very soon.

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Thank you Η Καθημερινή της Κυριακής and the “K” magazine for a great presentation of The HOME Project community, for giving voice to unaccompanied minors and for showcasing our work and its positive impact. Joining forces makes us all more efficient in addressing this crisis.

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We're thrilled to be a part of The Hellenic Initiative's 3rd Annual London Event on Wednesday, May 16th at The Dorchester! Thanks to everyone for supporting the event, 
Make sure to reserve your seat today and tag your friends in London: https://goo.gl/ZAW91J 
Donations will support The HOME Project and Elpida Youth
To learn more, visit: https://goo.gl/Bk9SSZ

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Thank you our partners Ελληνικός Προσκοπισμός and Time to be Welcome for facilitating an amazing event for the children of The HOME Project Shelters and Greek youth on Sunday. Pakistani, Syrian, Nigerian, Iraqi, Greek, Kurdish and Afghan kids spent their day together in activities ranging from Tai Chi, to in-depth discussions on what constitutes culture, and planting lemon and orange trees during a discussion on environmentalism.

During an activity, 16-year-old Ahmed from Syria wrote: “I don’t want war in the world. I want peace all over the world.” They each deserve a chance at this peace — and despite the darkest of circumstances, we see so much more strength and hope than we do victimhood or fear.

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On Saturday, March 31st, a live music night for a good cause, was organized by Panos & Cressida 4 Life - Πάνος & Χρυσηίδα βοήθεια στα παιδιά to benefit our children. 
The event was held at Φιλολογικός Σύλλογος Παρνασσός and money raised from the ticket sales will go to support the purchase of musical equipment for the children and the creation of  music corners in our shelters. 

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Thank you Δεσμός - Desmos for supporting The HOME Project shelters through their “Desmos Gives Warmth” program helping us keep our children warm and happy. Only through a sustainable community of support engaging all relevant stakeholders we can implement a harmonious form of social integration and progress. 

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Last weekend, 40 boys and girls from HOME Project shelters kicked off the third cycle of the American Community Schools “Youth to Youth” and “Business to Youth” program. The children will attend English and Greek lessons, computer science, art and music therapy, and sports. They will also receive specific training and linkages to the job market. Collaborating with ACS has facilitated safe and creative educational experiences for the unaccompanied minor children that The HOME Project supports. Thank you again American Community Schools for this incredible partnership and for helping us create a holistic educational community. 

Last week, our The HOME Project girls attended a great performance by Nicola Piovani and Stefanos Korkolis supporting Coeurs pour Tous Hellas at the Μέγαρο Μουσικής Αθηνών / Megaron - The Athens Concert Hall. A big thank you to Envolve Entrepreneurship Award GR for their generous gift that made possible an evening of joy and healing via music. Through community and compassion, we can work to restore dignity and normalcy into the lives of the children that we serve.

We are thrilled to announce our collaboration with Ένωση "Μαζί για το Παιδί" for the provision of food and hygiene supplies for The HOME Project children. The creation of a sustainable community of support around our children is a key element in our work. All together we can be much more efficient in addressing this crisis.

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The HOME Project's Scientific Supervisor Maria Kaldani and children from the shelters volunteered at the Athens Half Marathon 2018 to pass out water, cheer on the runners and share the excitement of the day. 

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“I think we don’t face a fatigue of darkness in our work; on the contrary we are fueled and refueled by the happiness of actually working on the solutions rather than focusing on the problem.” Sofia Kouvelaki
Greek Reporter has given a voice to our children and to The HOME Project.

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Farhad, age 9, plays with volunteers in "The Little Prince" shelter on February 28, 2018. Farhad arrived alone in Greece from Pakistan, and is now safe in The HOME Project shelter that cares for the youngest refugee children without guardians.

Sharing his new home with him are a brother and sister who arrived together from Syria, ages 8 and 9, and another young boy from Syria, age 10.

When arriving at the shelter to meet the children and volunteers, a sense of warmth, comfort and calm was present -- the children's artwork covers the walls, we play shoots and ladders, cards, and there's a quiet chorus of laughter and play.

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Ali, or “A,” looks over Athens at Areopagus Hill on Feb. 28, 2017. Ali and his younger brother arrived in Greece as unaccompanied minors, fleeing their home in Syria alone in 2017. Anna Ruch, and I’ll be sharing stories from the work The HOME Project does every day to protect, care for, and provide shelter for refugee children in Greece like Ali.

 

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Former Barack Obama White house photo editor Anna Ruch took over The HOME Project social media accounts. These images are from her visit to our shelter for our youngest children, under the age of 12, who have arrived in Greece without parents or guardians. Our mission at The HOME Project is to move these children to the safety of our HOMES and to provide them with support, protection, education and social integration services. 

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DID YOU KNOW? According to latest official data since the beginning of 2016, 11,325 unaccompanied refugee children have been registered in Greece.
At the moment, more than 2,100 are currently outside of any protection system living in the streets, police stations, detention centers and overcrowded camps with no access to basic care, services, nor any information on their rights. 
Our mission at The HOME Project is to move these children to the safety of our homes and to provide them with support, protection, education and social integration services. Some of the lucky ones have reached our shelters, but much more needs to be done. You can now support children traveling and arriving in Europe all alone via The HOME Project

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Μπορούμε continuously enabling The HOME Project to participate every week at the Gyzi Farm Market (Laiki) and gather fresh fruits and vegetables for its homes with the help of The HOME Project children and volunteers from Time to be Welcome.

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 Odeon Entertainment Greece enabled our children to visit Odeon Escape Cinema (former Ster) and travel into the movies’ world of imagination and dreams.

 P&G provided hygiene and cleaning products to The HOME Project children and supported us in constantly improving our quality of care. 

Thank you Οnassis Cultural Centre Athens for giving the opportunity tο The HOME Project​ children to attend the final rehearsal of Akram Khan​'s performance "XENOS". It was a beautiful journey into his enticing world: kathak, contemporary dance, rousing rhythms and world musical traditions. Looking forward to our next visit.

During the PeaceJam Greece event on "Step Up and Lead!" our Scientific Supervisor, Maria Kaldani conducted a workshop for high school and university students on the challenges that lone refugee children face and ways to address them. We were extremely inspired by the inspiring ideas that our young participants had and by their eagerness to find the most efficient ways to implement them.

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“We must apply our efforts to the construction of a more just and humane world. And I want to declare emphatically that such a world is possible."
The Argentinian Nobel Peace Prize winner Adolfo Perez Esquivel honored us with a visit at one of The HOME Project shelters operated by Melissa Networkin collaboration with Kasapi Hellas. We want to thank him for his kindness, his wisdom and his courageous defense of human rights.

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“The number of arrivals of unaccompanied minors is constantly increasing: 10,500 unaccompanied minors have been officially registered since the beginning of 2016. It is very urgent to provide adequate accommodation for these children; integration starts at the point of entry…. The ultimate purpose for children that will stay is that they will be able to integrate into the job market”.
Thank you U.S. Helsinki Commission for giving a voice to The HOME Project and addressing the issue of unaccompanied minors in Europe in a discussion at United States Capitol with Migration Policy Institute.

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“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
The HOME Project children are celebrating the birthday of the most visible spokesperson and leader in the civil rights movement, Dr. Martin Luther King. During their English lesson at the HP offices, they are researching his life, his values and his tireless fights for civil rights, equality and peace.

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We are grateful to Fulbright Foundation Greece  for enabling a collaboration with Trauma Specialist Dr. Judith Bachay Ph.D., 2017-2018 Fulbright Specialist to Greece, who spent a month with The HOME Project team and is now an integral part of our community. Judith provided staff training and self-care support and developed trauma informed guidelines for mental health interventions in the Home Project shelters.

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Thank you Hara Ntalla, Clinical Director of the Seleni Institute for a training and capacity building workshop for the staff working at the Home Project supported shelters on working with children, adolescents and adults who have experienced trauma. 
A big thank you to Social Dynamo, a joint initiative of Bodossaki Foundation - Ίδρυμα Μποδοσάκη & συνΑθηνά of the Δήμος Αθηναίων for the capacity building of the civil society, for hosting our event. 

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V+O Group supported and offered wonderful gifts to The HOME Project children. We are grateful to have you by our side and looking forward to a creative giving collaboration.

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“Now I can breathe, because I can dream again” 
The second cycle of the Youth to Youth Program in collaboration with ACS Athens (American Community Schools) has been successfully completed. A very important collaboration offering our children the ability to make dreams again about their future. 

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“All the world is a stage.”
So proud of our children playing in the theatrical play «Το Ταξίδι».
Thank you Εθνικό Θέατρο for giving the opportunity to The HOME Project kids to heal by expressing their creativity and imagination.

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“I am a citizen, not of Athens, or Greece, but of the world.” - Socrates

We were very happy to launch our first Youth to Youth e-learning incubator in collaboration with ACS Athens (American Community Schools) at The HOME Project “Socrates” shelter operated by Medin.
We have created a smart classroom in our shelter where kids can connect with ACS students and teachers and receive educational support, mentorship and training. 

Thank you IKEA Foundation. Our ninth The HOME Project shelter is now ready to accept children. One more shelter will be operational within the next month increasing our capacity to 10 shelters for 200 children while creating more than 120 jobs.

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The HOME Project Social Protection Unit conducting training to staff from Ηλιακτίδα ΑΜΚΕ one of our new partners on the ground.

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Today is our birthday. The HOME Project becomes one year old. We are grateful for the creation of a great community of support that has enabled us in our first 12 months of operation to increase our provision to care for more than 200 children in secure environments that give support, protection, education and social integration services while generating more than 120 jobs for refugees and Greek youth. With the winter approaching we will be providing emergency support to the most vulnerable populations on the islands. All together we can be much more efficient in addressing this crisis. Learn more on how you can join our community today.

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#GivingTuesday is celebrated the Tuesday after US Thanksgiving. It connects individuals, communities and organizations around the world to show our collective power to make a difference, celebrate and encourage giving.

Thank you Nationalgiving Hellenic Student Association (NHSA) of America for fundraising to support The HOME Project mission. 

On Thanksgiving Day we are grateful to all our supporters, partners on the ground and members of The HOME Project community for enabling us to provide a home and protection to children in need.
The first girl has arrived in one of the new HOME Project shelters supported by IKEA Foundation. The shelter’s name is "Pugad" which means beehive in fillipino and is operated by two great women led organizations Melissa Network in collaboration with Kasapi Hellas.

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We were very happy to welcome our first children with delicious food and music, in one of the new The HOME Project shelters operated by Ηλιακτίδα ΑΜΚΕ - Iliaktida Amke.

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Thank you IMPACTJUNKIE for spending four days with us, installing software in the new laptops and training shelter staff on personal hygiene matters and self care practices.

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Today is Universal Children's Day and as every other day refugee children must be treated as children first and foremost.
DID YOU KNOW: According to latest official data 9,673 children have been officially registered entering Greece since the beginning of 2016. 9,033 (93% boys) and 640 (7% girls), 567 (6% of the total population) <14 years old. 
Of those 2,016 children are currently WITHOUT A HOME, outside of any protection system living in the streets, police stations, detention centers and overcrowded camps with no access to basic care, services, nor any information on their rights. 
You can now help them reach one of our HOMES 

The HOME Project children and staff ran at the Athens Authentic Marathon 2017 together with American Community Schools - ACS Athens students to support the Youth to Youth program.

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Thank you the F Martini and Smashbox Cosmetics Greece for all your love and for creating a happy and healing beautiful environment for The HOME Project girls.

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Community building leads to understanding, acceptance, tolerance, respect and love- core elements of any healing environment. A big thank you to all of our volunteers who helped us with food Boroume, painting Ζωγράφοι σε δράση για τα ΠΑΙΔΙΑ, gardening and all different activities Time to be Welcome, #librainterns2018 Libra Internship Program and all of our friends for making this day so special for our children, the neighborhood, the shelter staff from Medin and for all of us here at The HOME Project
Creating a community of support around our kids is the only sustainable path to healing, integration and progress.
Looking forward to seeing you all again and for those who didn’t make it there will be another event very soon. Stay tuned!

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Our Executive Director Sofia Kouvelaki with Anthony Wonke, EMMY and triple BAFTA winner director and executive producer of the Oscar nominated short documentary "Watani: My Homeland" at the inauguration event of Building Bridges Charity Film Fest at the Manama Cultural Hall in Bahrain.
Thank you Building Bridges Film Fest for your invaluable support to The HOME Project and for helping us create a bridge back to childhood for #lone #refugee #children. We are grateful to have you joining our global community of support

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LIFO presented the work of The HOME Project and raised awareness on the issue of lone refugee children in Greece.

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The HOME Project shared its work with 400 students from schools in Bahrain at the Building Bridges Charity Film Fest at the Children and Mother's Welfare Society event.

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Η ΚΑΘΗΜΕΡΙΝΗ presented The HOME Project community and the first results of its work, as well as addressed the issue of unaccompanied refugee children.

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Stay tuned for more posts depicting everyday life in our shelters and sharing our children’s voice:

“I am Kurdish. I know how to do Kurdish dancing and I can make Kurdish food too. My brother is here also but he is in another shelter.”

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Thank you To vima for presenting the first results of our work and raising awareness on the issue of lone refugee children in Greece. At The HOME Project in collaboration with productive partnerships we have created a sustainable community of support around our children.

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At the UCL Institute of Advanced Studies, The HOME Project is participating at the workshop "Children in Crisis: Post WW2 and Relevance for Today" exchanging best practices of on the field experience and historical studies on child protection bringing together knowledge, understanding and action.

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According to the latest UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency UNICEF, and IOM - UN Migration Agency  data since the beginning of 2017 70% of refugee children reaching Europe are unaccompanied. In Greece at the moment more than 1,800 children are currently outside of any protection system living in the streets, police stations, detention centers and overcrowded camps with no access to basic care, services, nor any information on their rights. Our mission at The HOME Project is to move these children to the safety of our HOMES and to provide them with support, protection, education and social integration services. Some of the lucky ones have reached our shelters, but much more needs to be done. You can now support children travelling and arriving in Europe all alone by clicking here.

On 13th of October 2017 Grant Thornton Greece​ & LAVEyou ​organized an amazing day of fitness for The HOME Project​ kids, consumed energy for a good cause and transformed calories into money through sport activities.

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We are proud of and grateful for our collaboration with ACS Athens (American Community Schools). Last weekend The HOME Project children met with ACS Athens students and faculty at the school to plan the second Youth to Youth Program.

 The communication between the children and the staff was truly inspiring and we can’t wait for another year of learning, creativity and fun.

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Building a relationship with an animal enhances the quality of our lives. Ponies are usually called "divine mirrors" as they reflect our emotions. Thank you United Pony Caravan for making our children feel like children again. Looking forward to the next ride!

 

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The HOME Project announces €1 million donation from The IKEA Foundation. IKEA donation promises five more shelters, increasing capacity to 200 children and over 120 jobs (Link).

 

“The things that unite us are much more powerful and potent than the things that divide us." David Simas, CEO of the Obama Foundation shares his experience from the visit to the HOME Project. He gives a voice to the refugee girls of the HOME Project shelters and highlights the importance of community building.

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A walk into an unpredictable world of beautiful nature. The HOME Project boys and girls visited the National Observatory of Athens where NEON in collaboration with Adrian Villa Rojas transformed the hill of the Nymphs into "The Theater of Disappearance". 

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The HOME Project is participating at the Concordia Annual Summit: Shaping the Future of Global Collaboration giving a voice to those unseen and unheard from all over the world.

Greek National Children's Hospital Paidon Agia Sofia and the Program "Health for All" is providing medical support, examining and vaccinating more than 100 children of The HOME Project shelters. 

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Faber-Castell USA Premium Children's Art supports and enables art therapy workshops and many fun and creative activities for lone refugee children living in our shelters under the guidance of Seleni Institute

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Our girls getting ready for the new school year. The HOME Project in collaboration with high quality academic institutes like ACS- American Community Schools provides immediate access to education to its children. This is in accordance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (Article 28a). 

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The HOME Project's Technical Advisor overlooking at a small oasis located in downtown Athens. This space will be developed and become a gym area for our kids. 

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On this year's World Humanitarian Day, we think of all the innocent children caught in worldwide conflicts and we reaffirm our commitment to advocate for them.

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Thank you Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) D-Lab and Faros for offering this 6 days, hands-on practical skills workshop to The HOME Project children. 

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Thank you Food Bank, for your continuous support donating food to the HOME Project shelters.

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Summer 2017 vs Summer 1915

Refugee children enjoying the timeless beauty of the sea. 

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A HOME inspired painting by one of our volunteers. Find out alternative ways through which you can get involved and support us. 

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More than 1,250 unaccompanied refugee children are scattered all over Greece without a HOME. Only few have reached The HOME Project shelters and have managed to escape the inhumane living conditions they had been forced to live in, but more needs to be done. Please get involved and help us, help them.

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A group of volunteers from the Greek America Foundation transformed a soccer pitch in central Athens to a place of friendly competition and fun for boys from The HOME Project shelters.

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Boroume donates food supplies for The HOME Project shelters.

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According to the Human Rights Watch, refugee children in Lesbos are being incorrectly identified as adults and are not provided the necessary resources that under aged refugees need and have a right to.

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Painters from Painters in Action for Children along with the help of volunteers, transform a shelter into a HOME by filling the walls with paintings and welcome banners written in various languages.

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Our children visit The Benaki Museum and experience Greek culture and history first hand.

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A group of volunteers from the US and Canada help our kids truly experience being kids once again. Along with the team, the children participate in arts and crafts exercises and enjoy their summer days.

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A group of volunteers from London help build a new garden for one of The HOME Project shelters. The team also organised Enlgish and vocational training lessons as well as therapy sessions for our children.

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UNHCR GREECE donates 180 boxes of clothes for girls, boys and babies, and kitchen equipment for The HOME Project shelters.

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Storytellers from the Festival LEA – Sol Latino visited and enchanted our children with tales.

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Faber-Castell donates art material for the children of The HOME Project shelters.

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With the guidance and support of the Seleni Institute, our children attended their first art therapy workshops at The HOME Project shelters. The creation of healing environments within our shelters is a key element of our work.

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Our children successfully completed their Youth to Youth Program in collaboration with ACS Athens (American Community Schools). Through this program, our children participated in English, Greek and Maths as well as sports and art classes.

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Refugee Open Ware organized a robotics workshop, led by Asem Hasna, at a HOME Project shelter operated by Medin in collaboration with ARSIS and Together for Children. The children worked in teams and built their own robots.

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At least 300,000 unaccompanied and separated children have been recorded in 2015-2016, a rise of 500% since 2010 -2011. Of these minors, 75% become victims of slavery, exploitation and engage into illegal actions in attempt to fulfill their dreams.

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According to the latest EKKA and UNICEF report there are more than 1,013 lone refugee children in Greece without a home. Of those 234 children are in detention with no access to basic care, legal support and information on their rights. The numbers of lone refugee children arriving in Europe have been increasing throughout 2017. They are at risk of violence, sexual abuse, exploitation and organ trafficking.The need for a safe Home is now more urgent than ever.

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“More than 1,000 children are suffering from physical and psychological violence. Our mission is to support and educate them.” Sofia Kouvelaki, Executive Director of the HOME Project, shares the stories of invisible children at TEDxAthens 2017.

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Nearly 250 refugees feared dead after two migrant boats sink in Mediterranean, according to a United Nations report. A baby was found among the bodies that washed up on the coasts of Libya. So far in 2017, more than 1,300 people have drowned in the Mediterranean trying to reach Europe.

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Allied Aid, a US-based organization, created edible gardens at two of our shelters. The organization also donated 400 pairs of socks and 60 pairs of slippers for the children in the shelters.

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The organization Boroume donates a large amount of food and cleaning supplies for one of the HOME Project shelters.

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The organizations Carry the Future and Desmos make a large donation of food supplies for our shelters.

The HOME Project team in Athens received 84 letters from students at Valencia High School in California, USA. The letters, addressed to the children living in the HOME Project Shelters, contained words of encouragement and positivity. 

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937 lone refugee children in Greece have no HOME, according to the latest EKKA (National Center of Social Solidarity) report, a government agency responsible for the registration of unaccompanied in Greece. Of those 202 children are in detention centers with no access to basic services. The remaining kids live in camps, police stations or on the streets.

FXB Center for Health and Human Rights of the Harvard University publishes a report on the exploitation of refugee children in Greece. It provides facts and official academic data proving the extent of sexual, physical, emotional and psychological abuse that is taking place against the most vulnerable of the vulnerable. The HOME Project was set up to support and protect lone refugee children in Greece, who are exposed to violence and sexual abuse. 

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Moving into our new shelter for 15 girls and 3 babies, operated by Medin in collaboration with ARSIS and Mazi gia to Paidi. Both the girls and the babies will receive a holistic network of services covering food, shelter, material, medical, psychosocial, and legal support as well as support from maternal mental health experts and early childhood learning specialists.

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Opening celebration at the new HOME Project shelters, operated by Medin in collaboration with Generation 2.0. Atenistas helped bring life and beauty to walls of the shelters and coordinated painting activities for Greek and refugee children.

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Children from one of The HOME Project shelters volunteered at the Athens Half-Marathon, by giving out water and collecting plastic bottles from the runners for recycling.

The activity was coordinated by the Institute Team for the World Environmental Alliance 2004+ and PwC Greece.

 

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The children from our shelter participated in their first swimming lesson, led by a professional coach. The activity was funded by the organizations Peaceful Warrior and Building Bridges Charity Film Festival.

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According to the latest EKKA (National Center of Social Solidarity) report, a government agency responsible for the registration of unaccompanied in Greece, there are 1008 children in Greece without a home. Of those 16 children are in detention centers with no access to basic services. The remaining kids live in camps, police stations or on the streets.

Installing equipment at our second and third shelter which will host 30 children.

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Muhammed Muheisen of Associated Press publishes a series of photos which show the tragic reality of lone refugee children without any protection in Serbia.

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Benroubi, a small electrical appliances and household goods company, donates equipment and kitchenware for our shelters.

EKKA, the National Center for Social Solidarity responsible for recording unaccompanied minors in Greece, reports that there are currently 1076 lone children without a home in Greece. Innocent children are at risk of violence, sexual abuse, exploitation and organ trafficking. There is an estimated number of 2,100 lone children in Greece at the moment.

Western Union donates laptops worth €3,000 for the HOME Project children, who will use them for coding and language learning classes. 

The organizations Building Bridges and Peaceful Warrior funded a day-trip for 18 children. The kids played tennis and visited the Thermopyles Museum where they learned about the epic battle between the Spartans and the Persians.

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The HOME Project donates 10 laptop computers to the Education and Recreation for Adults and Children in Sounio Camp Program run by Organization Earth.

• 5,139 unaccompanied minors officially registered entering Greece since the beginning of 2016. 4,697 (91% are boys) and 442 (9% are girls), 460 <14 years old
• 1,443 lone refugee children without a home, of those 309 in closed reception facilities, 15 in protective custody

 

• 875 Mediterranean arrivals within the first 6 days of 2017
• 11 dead/missing within the first 6 days of 2017

 

The entertainment company Come & Save Me organized a New Year's Eve Party for 45 lone refugee children in The HOME Project shelter. Professional DJ's and musicians brought music and joy to the shelter.

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The National Center for Social Solidarity Announces that 1,443 lone children have no home in Greece. Of those 309 children are kept in closed facilities in prison-like conditions. 

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The EC released

• Its Fourth Report on the Implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement.
• Its Eighth Report on relocation and resettlement.
• A recommendation to Member States to gradually resume Dublin transfers to Greece under certain circumstances.

 

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The HOME Project has supported the NGO Medical Intervention operating on Samos with the provision of milk for 657 babies and young children.

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The European Commission (EC) released their Seventh Report on Relocation and Resettlement (Source: UNHCR) 7,990 lives have been lost while crossing the Mediterranean. According to the UN Children’s Fund many of the dead are believed to be children and many were travelling alone (IOM)

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French authorities shut down the refugee camp in Calais.

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The European Commission officially launched the European Border and Coast Guard (EBCG) Agency.

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The European Commission released:

• Sixth Report on relocation and resettlement
• Third Recommendation in view of the resumption of Dublin transfers to Greece
• Third Report on the progress made in the implementation of the EU-Turkey Statement

 

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United Nations General Assembly Summit in New York. Adopts the New York Declaration outlining key commitments to protect refugee and migrant rights.

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Informal Bratislava Summit, whereby Leaders set out the priorities at EU-level for the next few months. On migration, they include further bringing down the number of irregular migrants arriving to the EU, controlling external borders effectively, cooperate with non-EU countries and “apply the principles of responsibility and solidarity”.

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The European Border and Coast Guard Regulation is formally adopted.

Greek authorities registered over 3,300 unaccompanied asylum-seeking and refugee children arriving in Greece in the first seven months of 2016.

 

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40% of refugee arrivals are children. Of those - we don’t know exactly how many and this is part of the problem- are thousands of children who travel and arrive in Europe all alone. 100,000 unaccompanied minors sought asylum in the European Union in 2015. This is a 4 times larger number than the corresponding period a year ago. 13 percent of them are children younger than 14.

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The Greek Asylum Service started pre-registration for applications for international protection, supported by UNHCR and EASO.

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