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Center for Homeless Children |
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 Faith, Hope and Love Center for Street Children |
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The Faith, Hope and Love Center was established in 1995 by the Free and Democratic Bulgaria Foundation, in partnership with the British Charity ChildHope UK. |
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The Faith, Hope and Love Center is a night shelter and a day center for temporary and voluntary placement of street children in Sofia aged between 3 and 16. It offers refuge, food and clothing, but more importantly an opportunity for reintegration into society. A team of qualified social workers and a doctor take responsibility for the children's general education and health. The team of the center also provides conciliation services in order to improve the situation within the child's family.
Children are accommodated in the shelter on a purely voluntary basis. They use its services until they are returned to their families or are moved to a suitable place that continues to provide education, medical or social care.
Since the Center opened its doors, some 800 street children have benefited for varying periods of time from its services. As a result of the team's efforts, about one third of them have been reunited with their families, about one third have been enrolled in appropriate educational facilities and have continued their education, some have returned to the street ...
During the years its activities and services were financed under programs of the European Commission, by the United States Embassy in Sofia as well as by many corporate and individual donors.
In the summer of 2001 the Center was refurbished thanks to a generous grant from the Cooperating Netherlands Foundation for Central and Eastern Europe. In 2003 we were able to expand upon this gift with the purchase of new furniture and equipment thanks to a grant from the Japanese Embassy in Sofia.
The team of the Center implements a variety of programs aimed at meeting the children's needs:
- Outreach work. The street is the place where the first contact between the Center's team and the child is established, relationship of trust and friendship that is the basis for all further programs of the Center is formed. The team of the Center is always aware of the situation in the street, because undoubtedly there exists constant contact between the children in the Center and those in the street. The team keeps in touch with the groups of people the children are most often in contact with - policemen, street-vendors, local inhabitants, shop and restaurant owners - making efforts to have a favorable influence on their attitude towards the children. In the course of outreach work the team provides the children with food, health assistance, clothes and counsel, endeavoring to get them back into the family or make them use the Center services.
- Health care. The health program is implemented during the street work and after the child's admission to the Center. It includes establishment of the child's health status, giving first aid, assistance for specialized medical check-ups and, where necessary - for hospitalization. Educational courses are organized for formation of health and sexual culture, personal hygiene habits and prevention of drug use, STDs and HIV/AIDS.
- General education. The street children are characterized by poor level of education and low motivation for getting educated. The program is aimed at assessing the literacy level and the educational needs of the children, as well as at developing learning disposition and motivation. The first step is work on restoration of the willingness to get back into the mainstream school education, with the Center organizing classes for overcoming the gaps in their education. Assistance is rendered for enrolling the children in appropriate schools (general or special), providing them with the needed school aids and materials.
Children also have access to a specialized course in basic computer literacy, organized by the team with the help of external experts.
- Social rehabilitation. Street life impedes the formation of a positive self-conception, leads to interpersonal relationship problems, to the formation of false perceptions about the structure and functions of society. The Center provides qualified psychological and social assistance for overcoming the above consequences. The daily routine is aimed at forming basic notions of social life, of understanding and learning moral norms, rules and values, interpersonal communication skills corresponding to the children's age, motivation for maintenance of a pro-social behavior.
- Vocational training. Getting vocational training is vital for the successful future of street children. The Center provides vocational training of the children by their enrollment in vocational schools or qualification courses, or by organizing such courses in the Center.
- Social work with the families. The child's reuniting with the family is undoubtedly the most favorable outcome for him or her. The work with the children's families includes clarification of the family situation with a view to select the most appropriate support opportunities, family consulting, directing parents towards vocational training programs, cooperation for getting medical attendance if necessary, administrative and legal assistance and services.
- Administrative and legal services. The team of the Center helps the children with obtaining personal identity documents, enrolling in school, in their contacts with institutions.
- Development of creative abilities. One of the most efficient methods for development of this program is by organizing courses in some of the most popular art fields - music, dancing, drawing, etc. Practice reveals that such programs attract permanently the children's attention and lead to achievement of very good results in tearing the children from street life and their integration into society.
- Entertainment programs. The Center provides opportunities for reasonable spending of the children's spare time - sport and entertaining games, visits to puppet shows, cinema, theater, circus, museums, the zoo.
- Summer camp "Adrien Pochna". Each summer the Center organizes in the mountains a ten-day summer camp "Adrien Pochna", where the children take part in various educational games, contests and tournaments. The main focus of camp activities is on educating children on drug issues and drug prevention. The camp was set up in memory of prematurely diseased Adrien Pochna and is supported by his family and friends.
During 2003 the FHL Center accommodated and provided its services and programs for 153 children aged between 3 and 16. Out of the 153 children:
- 66% are from Sofia and 34% come from other towns of Bulgaria
- 80 % are Roma, 20% are Bulgarian
- 40% are boys and 60% - girls
- 16% are up to 7 years of age, between 7 and 14 are 57% and 27% are from 14 to 16 years old
From December 2002 to September 2003 the Faith, Hope and Love Center participated in the development and implementation of a project, targeted to a new for Bulgaria form of childcare - the foster care. The project focused particularly on ensuring that street children have equal access to this new opportunity. (for more information for the project - Foster Care Initiative)
"I was looking forward to visiting the Faith, Hope and Love Center and to meeting Mr. Panitza and others of you who have worked with the Free and Democratic Bulgaria Foundation to make this commitment to children a reality… and so… in order to continue the important work you are doing here, I am pleased to announce a grant of 50 thousand dollars from the United States Democracy Commission, as well as the donation of two vans from the Department of Defense to help this Center provide its vital services to the children."
Hillary Rodham Clinton, First Lady of the United States of America, during her visit to the Faith, Hope and Love Center in October 1998.
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