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Our Day Centres: Social Lighthouses
Children who come to the CONCORDIA day centres live under extremely precarious conditions. Many of them share a room with their parents, siblings and often their grandparents too. Often there is no plumbing or running water and rarely a place to do school work. Poverty means that these children often do not have clean clothes, are underweight and fall behind in school. They experience exclusion and this gives no room for manoeuvre. CONCORDIA is fighting against this marginalisation in the day centres and the children are given everything they need so that they no longer have the feeling of being ‘different’. Their parents are supported in improving their living conditions and parenting skills.
Underlying our commitment is the belief that every child and young person has the potential and the right to realise their dreams and to have a say in decisions that affect their lives.
In 17 day centres in Bulgaria (2), Kosovo (1), Moldova (10), Romania (3) and Austria (1), we currently support more than 5,000 children, and parents through education and family social work. In each of these centres, we focus on four levels of impact, so that children can discover and develop their potential. We work in close partnership with local authorities and in cooperation with the local schools.
Services in the CONCORDIA day centres
Vocational guidance:
- Vocational training for parents
- Supporting access to basic education for parents and other adults in the community (second chance programmes)
- Placement in the labour market and job coaching
Psychological counselling for children and parents
Community work:
- Support for kindergartens and schools
- Partnerships with local authorities in the social sector
- Mobile teams to identify needs
Social health work:
- Health education for children
- Health education for parents
- Health check-ups
- Information campaigns
Social:
- A hot meal for the children at the centre
- Support with accommodation
- Food packages for families
- Support in obtaining documents
- Assistance in accessing social assistance and other entitlements and rights
Education:
- Early childhood education
- Private tutoring
- After-school leisure activities: artistic and sport activities
- Vocational guidance - "School for life" for young people (14-18 years)
Family:
- Integrative approach, based on identified needs.
- Daily presence in the community
- Empowerment of parents through further education
CONCORDIA Executive Director, Bernhard Drumel
Leisure activities for children
The first contact with children and young people in our day centres is usually through our offer of a daily warm meal, a shower and fresh clothes. But there is much more happening in these facilities of CONCORDIA social projects. They are places where children are allowed to be children.
CONCORDIA Social Projects offers support for learning and participation in creative and sports activities. In the summer, CONCORDIA Social Projects organises camps, thus enabling children and young people who would be denied access to such communal activities due to their social background, to have a meaningful leisure activity.
Impact study on day centres in Romania
In order to check the effectiveness of our measures, we have prepared a study on our day centres in Romania. Read our impact study on the day centres in Romania to find out what sustainable changes and improvements in the lives of the children we have been able to achieve through the day centres in the poorest areas of Romania.
Successes in the CONCORDIA day centres
The volunteer involvement of some of our former children in our care is a testament to the success of the day centres. Voluntary activities include helping with homework, organising extracurricular activities, assisting with leisure activities, etc. At the same time, it is worth mentioning the voluntary commitment of parents who have helped or are helping with the various renovation measures in the CONCORDIA day centres.
Ionatan: Agent of change
Ionatan was still small when the CONCORDIA day centre Casa Cristina opened in Ploiești/Romania. He heard the stories from his brothers and sisters and was eager to go to school so he could join his siblings at the centre.
Today he is 14 years old, a volunteer at Casa Cristina and a role model for the younger children. He decided to do this because he wants to pass on all the help he has received at Casa Cristina. "The years I spent here were the best years of my life so far," he tells us in the spacious and bright Casa Austria. "I learned a lot here, made friends, went on beautiful excursions. I don't know how the eight years have passed. I've been going to high school since last year."
When we met him at the centre, he was passionately explaining to a child that it is important to learn to read and write very well, because otherwise they will not be able to pass school. Ionatan comes from a family of 10 children. His younger siblings also use the services at the day centre.
