30,255 beneficiaries and 70,800 provided services

Athens, January 14, 2016
On Thursday, January 14th, the organizations ARSIS, PRAKSIS, NETWORK FOR CHILDREN’S RIGHTS, ASSOCIATION TOGETHER FOR CHILDREN, the ASYLUM SERVICE and SolidarityNow, held a joint Press Conference to mark the one year of operation of the Athens Solidarity Center. During the one year of operation of the Athens Solidarity Center -from December 2014 until December 2015- the total number of beneficiaries rose to 30,255 while the number of services provided, reached 70,800.

Iorgos Karagiannnis as the Coordinator of the Athens Solidarity Center of SolidarityNow, noted that: “After one year of operation, the Solidarity Center demonstrates that wherever efforts of civil society are combined with those of the municipality and public services, the result is noticeable and advantageous both for those in need of services and for those that work together to offer them.”

The Coordinator of the Legal Aid Office of ARSIS, Evangelia Kontodima, stressed the importance of “providing free legal counseling and legal representation to vulnerable social groups, especially those to whom the impact of the crisis is not visible immediately, such as women who suffer violence or children.” She did not fail to mention the increased number of arrivals of beneficiaries of the Service and made particular reference to advocacy – claim direct and efficient access to justice, and to networking with other agencies and organizations with a common purpose and action.

Dina Vardaramatou as the Coordinator of the NGO Praksis, referred to the two main pillars with which the organization is engaged in cooperation with the foresaid bodies. The program MEDICAL SERVICES EXTENDED constitutes an extension of medical services provided in the PRAKSIS Polyclinic of Athens, while the program EMPLOYABILITY CENTER, offers free support services to the unemployed during their job search, in Greek, English and French. Also, she did not fail to make a numerical report, while completing the speech, presenting quantitative data on how much the beneficiaries have been served during the operation of the center.
The coordinator of the Office of Special Procedures at the Regional Asylum Office in Attica, Katerina Prentza, noted that ” in the asylum process it is very important both for the Office and for asylum seekers and particularly for the vulnerable, that they can rely on immediate response of entities under one roof at the Solidarity Center, to provide vital humanitarian, medical, psychiatric and legal aid.”
Additionally, Angeliki Sandilou, the Coordinator of the Child Center, NETWORK FOR CHILDREN’S RIGHTS, commented that the “Child Center” operates based on its rules and the application of the “International Convention on Children’s Rights” and has set forth a basic daily schedule for individual and participative activities, with pedagogical, entertainment and cultural content. Focusing, the program adapts flexibly to new needs, as those arise, and focuses on children and their families and respect for diversity. The presence of the teacher, social worker and psychologist and the assistance of volunteers and friends of the “Network” (pediatrician, teachers, gynecologists, and others) also offer the possibility of enlarging the basic daily support through Greek language courses, information sessions, food distributions, as well as other actions.
Finally, the Coordinator of programs from the “Together for Children”, Konstantinos Tagkoulis made ​​reference to both programs being hosted since January 2015 in the Athens Solidarity Center, the Counseling Line ” 115 25 ” and the ” Counseling Center “, which cumulatively within a year served more than 9,000 beneficiaries.The Counseling Line “11525” and “Counseling center” of the Association “Together for Children”, offer through qualified staff free services for any issue that concerns parents and children in order to raise awareness, and give guidance and psycho-emotional support to each family. Also, as part of his presentation, and in addition to quantitative and qualitative data, he referred to joint actions, of information, humanitarian and entertainment content, that were developed with co-located entities, thereby confirming the value of coexistence of separate voluntary organizations in the same space.

PRAKSIS
The main goal of PRAKSIS is the design, implementation and delivery of developmental, humanitarian and medical programs. Based on the two Polyclinics in Athens and Thessaloniki, the Reception Day Centers for the Homeless (Athens, Piraeus and Thessaloniki), the Reception Center for Unaccompanied Minors in Patras, the Centers for Unaccompanied Minors STEGI PLUS (+), PRAKSIS operates in Greece, mainly in Attica, Central Macedonia, the Aegean islands (e.g. Lesvos, Samos, Kos, Chios, Leros etc.), on the northern border of the country, as well as in the region of Patras, by offering for 18 years direct and free medical care, psychological and legal support to the local homeless, poor, uninsured, newly arrived asylum seekers, refugees and immigrants, repatriated, unaccompanied minors, street children, ex-prisoners and to other socially and economically excluded groups.
It also provides free testing for HIV and Hepatitis B,C, through Mobile Units for Examination and Information;  additionally, it operates a Help Line 800 11 11 600 (toll free from a landline) 210 82 50 600 (free of charge from mobile) that provides information about sexually transmitted diseases, Hepatitis B, C and HIV.
www.praksis.gr | email: info@praksis.gr

ARSIS – Association for the Social Support of Youth
ARSIS is a non-governmental organization specialized in the social support of young people and vulnerable groups and the defense of human rights. The main axis of ARSIS’s actions is support, reintegration, education, securing housing and employment, protection of rights, citizens’ awareness and fostering volunteering and solidarity. It is active against discrimination, poverty and marginalization. Founded in 1992, ARSIS operates centers in Athens, Thessaloniki, Alexandroupolis, Volos and Kozani.
www.arsis.gr | email:arsisathina.legalaid@gmail.com

NETWORK FOR CHILDREN’S RIGHTS
The Network for Children’s Rights is a non-governmental organization established in 2004 with primary aim the sensitization and active intervention to the problems regarding Children’s Rights. It has undertaken actions and initiatives for the implementation of the UN International Convention on the Rights of the Child in our country, as well as for the respect of diversity and discriminations. Its members are teachers, parents, academics, writers, artists and children, who act voluntarily in and out of the school community, they undertake research, campaigns and programs.
www.ddp.org.gr | email:diktio1@gmail.com

ASSOCIATION “Together for Children”
The Association “Together for Children” is comprised of 10 charitable organizations that have as a common denominator the child and the modern family, and operates in Greece since 1996. The nationwide Line “11525” and the “Counselling Center” of the Association “Together for Children” are hosted from January 2015 at the Athens Solidarity Center, offering through qualified staff free services for any issue that concerns parents, children and adolescents raising awareness and offering guidance and psycho – emotional support to each family.
www.mazigiatopaidi.gr | email: info@mazigiatopaidi.gr, 11525@mazigiatopaidi.gr

NATIONAL ASYLUM SERVICE
The National’s Asylum Service mandate is according to the law the implementation of the national legislation on the provision of political asylum and other forms of international protection to foreigners who have fled their country due to justified fear of persecution on the basis of race, religion, national origin, political opinion or membership in a particular social group, and who are unable or unwilling to return home. As required by law, the Service receives, examines and decides on the basis of the national legislation and the international obligations of the country, for asylum applications filed in Greece. The Solidarity Center serves vulnerable people, so as to enable the direct provision of medical, psychosocial and legal services of the organizations hosted in the Center, when necessary.
www.asylo.gov.gr/en/ | email: press.asylo@asylo.gov.gr

SOLIDARITYNOW
SolidarityNow is a network of people and organizations founded in 2013 in Greece with the initiative of the Open Society Foundations (OSF) mainly aiming at providing assistance and support to those affected by the current crisis. The program “Solidarity Centers” has been running since January 2014 and is based on the idea of ​​an open space, a core that enhances the participation of different groups of civil society in order to cover the lack of access of the city’s most vulnerable populations to integrated services.
www.solidaritynow.org | email: contact@solidaritynow.org

For the presentations (available only in Greek):

PRAKSIS, ARSIS – Association for the Social Support of Youth , ΥΠΗΡΕΣΙΑ ΑΣΥΛΟΥ/ΠΕΡΙΦΕΡΕΙΑΚΟ ΓΡΑΦΕΙΟ ΑΣΥΛΟΥ ΑΤΤΙΚΗΣ, ΔΙΚΤΥΟ ΓΙΑ ΤΑ ΔΙΚΑΙΩΜΑΤΑ ΤΟΥ ΠΑΙΔΙΟΥ​, ΕΝΩΣΗ ΜΑΖΙ ΓΙΑ ΤΟ ΠΑΙΔΙ, αλληλεγγύη-SolidarityNow