BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF PROJECT
This project aims to the maximum economic and social integration of the least privileged groups in the western part of Thessaloniki. The project involves the groups of single-parent families, Roms, repartriated Greek-Pontians and families with individuals with special needs, as target groups and is a part of the European Programme POVERTY-3. It represents a joint effort of various social and public agents and adopts a multi-dimensional approach of combating poverty.
BACKGROUND CONTEXT OF PROJECT
The Project was founded in 1990, after the completion of a study on the basic characteristics of the people in the district, aiming to identify the extent and the major features of poverty.
Examination and analysis of the findings of the above research study, have led to the precise identification of the individuals who can be characterized as poor. One can consider as particularly poor the single-parent families, Pontian families who have been recently repatriated from the USSR, families with members with special needs, and Gypsy families.
All of the groups mentioned above are characterized by considerable poverty, quite often sub-standard housing, various degrees of social isolation often caused by the use of a minority language, low educational and/or training levels, and, as a natural corollary to these, high unemployment.
Based on surveying the target groups of the Project, special recommendations were made and projects-actions were arranged to comply with the specific needs and problems of each group.
TARGET GROUP(S)
The total population of the district of Eleftherio/Kordelio-Evosmos-Menemeni is 60.000 people approximately.
The Project aims specifically though towards four target groups, that constitute almost 80% of the total population.
The Gypsies (ROM) are to be found in all three districts but a large number have settled in Dendropotamos, a damp, often flooded, overcrowded, poorly serviced, highly-polluted area of Menemeni. This group suffers greatly from poverty, health problems, social marginalization and educational improverishment Romany is the mother tongue of the Gypsies but almost half are illiterate and the quality of spoken Greek varies highly from person to person. Children who do attend school drop out early to help provide income for the family.
The Greek Pontians who have recently immigrated from the USSR are among the poorest in the population of the district. They own little property: possessing only what they have brought with them and often selling that in order to satisfy other more basic needs. Also, as a result of a lack of an agreement signed between Greece and the USSR the elderly receive no pension at all and are entirely dependent on whatever salary they or their families can earn. They speak mostly Russian or Pontian and few can read or write modern Greek. This lack of knowledge intensifies their social isolation and lack of communication with the wider community and contributes to their unemployment, underemployment and social marginalisation.
The target group of families with members with special needs face extremely complex problems due to the nature of the difficulties they encounter. Their poverty tends to be even greater than other families with the same monthly income because of the economic burden of caring for the disabled member, the prejudice in the marketplace against hiring the disabled, and the difficulty of family members in finding work that will accommodate their special needs in caring for their disabled member. Concealment of disabled members in a family plus problems of mobility often lead to fewer visits to the doctor, and in this way initially simple health problems of the handicapped can often lead to more serious illness. Isolation and cultural deprivation are a given for this group and include the family members as well who are often tied down at home looking after the disabled member or fearing to go out because of the stigma so often attached to infirmity.
The Project is also addressed to single-parent families in which children grow up with only one parent, regardless of what happened to the other parent (death, divorce, abandonment, illegitimacy, etc.). These families face quite unique problems which influence their lives in a very negative way. Poverty is acute: living conditions are poor, educational levels are low, health problems are frequent, few receive any sort of stipend and lack of child care facilities leads to even higher unemployment and underemployment. Social alienation among this group tends to be extremely high and fewer belong to or participate in clubs or organisations than any other of the target groups in the district.
In order to serve the general objectives of the Programme an information Centre has been established in the district to inform individuals on different subjects related to health, welfare, education, jobs, insurance and social services. With the creation of this Centre the Programme aims at overcoming the problems that result from the inadequacies of the civil service in Greece, to utilise knowledge and information that are of interest to our target groups and to confront the phenomena of ignorance and passivity that characterise these marginalised minority groups.
CATCHMENT AREA
The three municipalities involved in the Project (Eleftherio/Kordelio, Evosmos and Menemeni) belong to the Western part of Greater Thessaloniki. This part is a predominantly working class community, and a highly polluted, poorly serviced area, wherein 24% of the families have a family income that is smaller than half of the individual income of a salaried employee and almost half of the population have had only a primary education.
PROJECT OBJECTIVES
The objectives of the Project serve the two major goals in the district:
a) the immediate combating of poverty, and
b) the creation of models of social policy for the prevention of poverty.
The specific objectives for each target group are defined based both on the needs of each group and on the following general lines:
i) improvement of standard of living (financial dimension of poverty)
ii) strengthening and support of social participation (social and political dimension of poverty)
iii) cultural enrichment and surpass of social isolation (socio- cultural dimension of poverty)
iv) improvement of health conditions
PROJECT ACTIVITIES AND WAYS OF WORKING
* Literacy classes were set for ROM adults
* Literacy classes were also set for ROM children
* Dancing and music groups were organized for ROM
* Basketball and soccer teams for ROM
* Assistance to small ROM vendors to acquire and renew necessary permits from goverment authorities to assure continous employment.
* Greek language lessons were set for Pontian adults
* Greek language lessons for Pontian school age children.
* Cooperation with employers of the district and the Union of Industrialists of Northern Greece, to achieve employment for Pontians in professions that correspond to the professional training they received in the USSR.
* Cooperation with the School of Education of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki to provide in-school support for school age Pontian students.
* Physical exercise classes for children and young adults with mental handicaps.
* In-school physical exercise class in the single special school in the area.
* Door-to-door contacts with families with members with special needs.
* Support in everyday problems of families with members with special needs.
* Information pamphlet on the milestones of the development of the children sent to all mothers in the area with children up to 2 years old.
* Development of a complete plan for architectural modifications in the area to promote access for the physically handicapped.
* The establishment of the Centre for Single-Parent Families, staffed by specialists, which is the cutting edge of the Programme's intervention in the single-parent families of the district. Support is offered through a number of activities:
* workshops and consultation on health issues, nutrition and preventive health care
* professional tutoring for elementary school-aged children
* workshops with social workers and psychologists to discuss problems arising from their single-parent status
* once-a-week babysitting for parents while they tend to various tasks.
* Art and crafts classes for preschoolers and elementary school- aged children.
* Lectures and discussions on the special needs of the unemployed and the working skills they need to develop.
* Workshops for the employed concerning leaves of absence, stipends and insurance to acquaint them with their rights and responsibilities.
* Entertainment activities are available both at the Centre and outside of it.
* Weekly informal gatherings to which anyone from the district is welcome.
* A newsletter is published regarding the activities of the Centre and continuous communication is kept up with corresponding programmes both in Greece and abroad.
The activities of the Centre for Single-Parent Families, are going to be expanded to all three municipalities of the district.
In addition, there are activities that transcend all four target groups such as preventive health, cooperation for finding employment, publicity, self-evaluation, neworking with groups and agents working on similar issues etc.
The approach of the Project is a multi-dimensional one, trying to incorporate and address all the factors contributing to poverty. Thus, the arranged actions address financial, educational, health and social problems in the target groups.
Furthermore, the Project applies the concept of multidimensionality, in the joint efforts and close cooperation on various levels, with social, public and administration agents. Those joint efforts represent not only a challenge towards the formation of a model social policy-making, but a guarantee for the maximum effectiveness of the efforts as well.
Self-Evaluation methods used to monitor the development of the projects, constitute an integral part of our actions, aiming both to the best design, and everyday progress and to the evaluation of the overall effectiveness of the Project.
A Steering Committee is the main governing body while the responsibility of the everyday functioning and implementation of the various aspects of the Programme is in the hands of the Planning and Implementation Committee and of the Chairman of the Steering Commitee.
KEY ACTORS
 | National Welfare Organization |
| Municipality of Eleftherio/Kordelio |
| Municipality of Evosmos |
| Municipality of Menemeni |
| Precinct Committee for Adult Education |
| Department of Education of the Aristotle's Universtity of Thessaloniki |
| Workers' and Employee's Centre of Thessaloniki |
| Association of the Dendropotamos Gypsies |
| Association of Repatriated Political Refugees |
| Church of Stavroupoles-Neapoles |
| Chamber of Architecture of Greece |
| Union of Industrialists of Northern Greece |
| Greek Society for Local Development |
| Center of Pontian Studies |
Copyright © NOTΙCE: Unless otherwise noted, copyrights for the texts that are published on REDS archive site are held by their authors. Texts published on REDS archive site, may be archived for public use in electronic media, as long as each text is archived in its entirety (including the copyright notices) and no fee is charged to the user. Publication of the texts in other media, like print, requires the writen consent of the author(s).
Εκτός αν αναφέρεται διαφορετικά, τα δικαιώματα (copyright) για τα κείμενα που δημοσιεύονται στο site-αρχείο REDS ανήκουν στους συγγραφείς τους. Τα κείμενα που δημοσιεύονται στο site-αρχείο REDS μπορούν να αρχειοθετηθούν για δημόσια χρήση σε ηλεκτρονική μορφή, αρκεί κάθε κείμενο να διατίθεται ολόκληρο (περιλαμβανομένων των σημειώσεων για το copyright) και να μη ζητείται καμία χρηματική αμοιβή από το χρήστη. Η δημοσίευση των κειμένων σε άλλη μορφή, όπως έντυπη μορφή, απαιτεί τη γραπτή συναίνεση του(-ων) συγγραφέα(-ων).