{"id":1778,"date":"2017-02-22T15:46:08","date_gmt":"2017-02-22T15:46:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.solidaritynow.org\/?p=1778"},"modified":"2017-02-22T16:03:36","modified_gmt":"2017-02-22T16:03:36","slug":"blue-refugee-center_pressrelease","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.solidaritynow.org\/en\/blue-refugee-center_pressrelease\/","title":{"rendered":"[:el]\u039a\u03ad\u03bd\u03c4\u03c1\u03bf \u03a5\u03c0\u03bf\u03c3\u03c4\u03ae\u03c1\u03b9\u03be\u03b7\u03c2 \u03a0\u03c1\u03bf\u03c3\u03c6\u03cd\u03b3\u03c9\u03bd| Blue Refugee Center:  \u0388\u03bd\u03b1 \u039a\u03ad\u03bd\u03c4\u03c1\u03bf \u03a5\u03c0\u03bf\u03c3\u03c4\u03ae\u03c1\u03b9\u03be\u03b7\u03c2 \u03c3\u03c4\u03bf \u03c0\u03bb\u03b5\u03c5\u03c1\u03cc \u03c0\u03c1\u03bf\u03c3\u03c6\u03cd\u03b3\u03c9\u03bd \u03ba\u03b1\u03b9 \u03bc\u03b5\u03c4\u03b1\u03bd\u03b1\u03c3\u03c4\u03ce\u03bd \u03c3\u03c4\u03b7 \u0398\u03b5\u03c3\u03c3\u03b1\u03bb\u03bf\u03bd\u03af\u03ba\u03b7[:en]The Blue Refugee Center on the side of refugees and migrants in Thessaloniki[:]"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>SolidarityNow<\/strong> launches the <strong>Blue Refugee Center in Thessaloniki; this Center will operate as an information and assistance hub <\/strong>for all refugees and migrants, living permanently or residing temporarily, in <strong>Northern Greece<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The new Center is part of the programs implemented by <strong>SolidarityNow<\/strong> in <strong>Northern Greece<\/strong>, in response to the urgent needs of the vulnerable populations that are trapped in our country after the closure of the borders. In the Blue Refugee Center, refugees, migrants, and asylum seekers, can take <strong>immediate and effective support<\/strong> for a range of needs by the organization\u2019s professional groups (lawyers, social workers, psychologists, etc.), through the different services <strong>provided pro bono<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The main target of the <strong>Blue Refugee Center<\/strong>, that is operated in Thessaloniki with <strong>the support of the UNHCR and UNICEF<\/strong>, is the empowerment of the refugees and migrants as well as of the host communities. Furthermore, the conception of the Blue Refugee Center relied on a great need that is not directly visible; the essential need of people with different cultural origins for a friendly space of coexistence and social interaction.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The timely and reliable information to the refugees and migrants is the key priority of the Center&#8217;s operation<\/strong> and this becomes reality through:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Helpline <\/strong>(tel.no: 2310 555 266| <em>*charges apply at national landline cost<\/em>) and<\/li>\n<li><strong>Open and accessible<\/strong> <strong>front desk<\/strong>, which operates at the Center and provides administrative information and services.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>In parallel, the aim is to promote a better quality of life, enhancing self-reliance and developing a sense of security for the Center\u2019s beneficiaries.<\/p>\n<p>\u201c<em>The core basis of the<\/em> <em>Blue Refugee Center is the expanded service package provided to the beneficiaries that symbolizes the open, easily accessible and friendly nature of the Center. In such a hub, the beneficiaries feel safe being in a place where they can find practical assistance to their needs. Above all, the Blue Refugee Center is a place where refugees and migrants enjoy the respect they deserve<\/em>&#8220;, says Ioanna Fourkiotou, the organization\u2019s Programs coordinator in Northern Greece. And she continues: &#8220;<em>The Center addresses all those people who live for months under hazardous conditions in camps, on the street, or in temporary shelters. <strong>SolidarityNow<\/strong> tries to level up the quality of assistance involving the beneficiaries in the design of the services provided at the standards of its Solidarity Centers. We are actually trying to bring refugees closer to Thessaloniki and Thessaloniki closer to the refugees\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>In the Blue Refugee Center, the following services are provided:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Health services<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Legal Counselling<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Psychosocial Support and Counseling<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Employability consulting\/ support<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Educational and Recreational Activities<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Women Safe Space<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Child Friendly Space<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; Breast-feeding corner<\/p>\n<p>&#8211; General Information, Translation\/Interpretation Services<\/p>\n<p><strong>SolidarityNow<\/strong> operates the <strong>Blue Refugee Center<\/strong>, in the heart of Thessaloniki and anticipates to provide help to a great number of beneficiaries, based on <strong>solidarity<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.solidaritynow.org\/en\/blue-refugee-center\/\">BLUE REFUGEE CENTER<\/a><\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>Helpline: 2310 555 266<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>SolidarityNow launches the Blue Refugee Center in Thessaloniki; this Center will operate as an information and assistance hub for all refugees and migrants, living permanently or residing temporarily, in Northern Greece. The new Center is part of the programs implemented by SolidarityNow in Northern Greece, in response to the urgent needs of the vulnerable populations [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1779,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[9,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1778","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-homepage","category-press-release"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solidaritynow.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1778","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solidaritynow.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solidaritynow.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solidaritynow.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solidaritynow.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1778"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/www.solidaritynow.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1786,"href":"https:\/\/www.solidaritynow.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1778\/revisions\/1786"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solidaritynow.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1779"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.solidaritynow.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solidaritynow.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.solidaritynow.org\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}