DROP IN SHELTER

 

Drop in shelter is a licensed service, recognized in Law on social protection, with the aim to improve life quality of the street involved children.

Drop in shelter beneficiaries are the children between 5 and 15 years of age who live or work on the streets of Belgrade and who are exposed to numerous risks due to a way of life.

Beneficiaries are supplied with regular, nutritionally balanced meals, clean clothes and footwear adjusted to the weather conditions, with the support during their education and during involvement in the educational system. Drop in shelter represents the safe environment which meets their needs and nourishes proper psychosocial development of a child. Beneficiaries can also take part in different creative, educative, cultural and sports activities

Not only the Drop in shelter related activities are available to the beneficiaries and their families, but also a team of outreach work experts who regularly visit places where the children live, work or spend their time. Outreach work enables strengthening the relation of trust with the beneficiaries and their families. The Drop in shelter team of professionals consists of social workers, special pedagogues, a nurse, psychologists and a lawyer. This team has a joint mission to provide support and protection to all beneficiaries of the Drop in shelter, respecting best interest of a child.

Currently the Drop in shelter service is provided at two locations in Belgrade – 7a Krfska Street, Zvezdara municipality and 145 Boulevard Arsenija Carnojevica, New Belgrade municipality.

Working hours of Drop in shelters are from 8 to 18 o’clock on working days and from 10 to 18 o’clock during weekends.

The current Drop in Shelter donors are H. Stepic CEE Charity and CWS Europe .

PROGRAM OF EDUCATION

 

Program of education is organized with a goal to include children in the educational system in early age, as a measure of support and prevention of children getting involved in life and/or work on the streets. Children included in the Program are living in informal settlements (slums). The majority of them are facing extreme poverty, discrimination and exclusion from regular life of the community and support systems.

Program of education is organizing daily support to preschoolers in order for them to be regular at the preschool program. Also, Program is supporting first graders from informal settlements by organizing weekend education sessions and by helping them with their school obligations. Providing them with direct support in learning at school and organizing educational work after classes and on weekends.

Multidisciplinary expert team is providing support to the children and their families when it comes to fulfillment of their rights. Beside them, Program is engaging the community by including volunteers – members of the community as outreach workers, but also health, social welfare, educational institutions and respective local government institutions and corporate sector in the Network of support for children from informal settlements.
Program is operating 7 days per week thus there is a possibility for volunteers and future professionals to engage depending on their other obligations.

Since 2010, with this Program, we have supported more than 500 children from informal settlements.

Current donors of the Program is H. Stepic CEE Charity, The Church of Jesus Christ off Latter-Day Saints and Roma

BECOME A PART OF DONORS CIRCLE

There are many ways you can support our work. For children who are relying on us each is equally important. Donate your time or your second hand clothes and shoes, candy for children, school supplies or funds.

Support us
Volunteer

PHILANTHROPY PROGRAM

 

Philanthropy program aim is to provide sustainability of the Centre for youth integration programs.

Sustainability refers to the fact that regardless of economy crisis and political situation in the City of Belgrade, Drop in Shelter and other programs could always have enough to provide adequate, quality and timely intervention for a child who finds himself on the street.

From 2004 Center for Youth Integration has been working with street involved children on the territory of Belgrade. Today, through different programs, we are working with more than 500 children.

The children who are attending the CYI programs have decided to go to school every morning instead of going to a crossroads or to a street. Those are the children who gave us, grownups, one more chance to take care of them. And it is our responsibility not to let them down and to make sure that the necessary support should always be available to them.
Many of you have already helped by donating your products or clothes that you do not use anymore. Other citizens are helping by coming and teaching the children things that all of us were taught by our loved ones when we were kids. Some people say and show the way to the Drop in shelter and thus all of us support street involved children. For children, that support is priceless!

The final goal of the Philanthropy program is to define and to establish models of gathering donations from corporations and individuals, who will be providing continuous influx of financial means necessary for realization of Drop in shelter in Belgrade.

CAFÉ BAR 16

 

Employment Support Programme for street involved youth aims to increase the employability of this group of young people through a comprehensive support system, empowerment and inclusion in the system. After leaving the Drop in Shelter, youth above 16 are facing the same problems they have previously encountered. They continue to live in informal settlements, are exposed to extreme poverty, find it difficult to get a formal job, have difficulty contacting the institutions, are discriminated and exposed to multiple risks.

Employment Support Programme for street involved youth is designed as a continuation of the support received through other programs implemented by the Center for Youth Integration (primarily through the Drop In Shelter and Outreach Support Programme), which responds to the needs of the target group through activities aimed at gaining additional knowledge, skills, through formal training, work experience and psychosocial support from a professional team.

Cafe Bar 16 was established at the end of 2017. as a social enterprise started by the Center for Youth Integration to provide employment support to street involved youth after they leave Drop in Shelter. The idea to start a social enterprise originated from the idea that the café itself could be financially viable and thus provide employment support to young people who are the target group of this Programme, while through its primary activity it can provide financial support to other programmes implemented by the Center for Youth Integration.

Cafe Bar 16 is a place that is breaking down prejudices and stereotypes, giving young people living or working on the street the opportunity to become equal members of society, while the example of young people who are given the opportunity to work serves as a role model and support for other children from Drop in Shelter, giving them motivation for graduation and formal employment.

More than 30 street involved youth were supported through the Employment support programme and have improved their knowledge and skills and have gained their first, formal job in Café bar 16 and other partner bars and restaurants.

The services we provide are supported by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH under the Migration for  development (PME) Programme. The Programme is part of the global  initiative “Returning to New Opportunities” of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ).

Our donors are Secours populaire français and CWS Global

facebook.com/kafebar16

CHILD PROTECTION HUB FOR SOUTH EAST EUROPE

 

The aim of the Child Protection Hub for South East Europe (Child Hub) is to develop strong regional community of practice and innovation in the countries of Southeastern Europe, between the actors that directly contribute to the development and implementation of services to protect children from abuse and neglect (professionals, academics, policy makers, experts, beneficiaries).

Strategically, this project brings together three types of intervention around the regional network of professionals and agencies, with the support of online platform childhub.org: targeting the knowledge, capacity building and advocacy.

The focus of this platform is the services and skills to deal with situations of abuse and violence against children. Child Hub provides networking and professional collaboration among stakeholders in the countries of Southeast Europe. In this way, it increases the ability to upgrade knowledge and skills through a process of continuous improvement practices (through trainings, webinars, internet library, materials and the information available in 5 languages).

Countries and organizations that are involved in the project: Albania (Terre des Hommes, Bosnia and Herzegovina (Save the Children North West Balkans), Bulgaria (Know How Center for Alternative Care for Children), Croatian (Brave Phone), Kosovo (Terre des Hommes), Moldova (Terre des Hommes), Romania (Terre des Hommes) and Serbia (Center for Youth Integration).

The project is coordinated by the regional office of “Terre des Hommes” from Budapest and financial supported by Austrian Development Cooperation, OAK Foundation, European Union.

 

REFUGEE RESPONSE: PROJECTS OF SUPPORT CHILDREN REFUGEES AND MIGRANTS

Projects supporting refugee and migrant children in Serbia were created in October
2015 as a response to the refugee crisis in Europe. Together with Save the Children,
our partner and donor, we opened 2 Mothers and babies corners and Child friendly
space in Belgrade and established outreach teams in Sid, Dimitrovgrad and Presevo
in order to provide direct support primarily to unaccompanied minors. In past 5
years we were present in Bujanovac, Vranje and Obrenovac reception centers.

After numerous changes caused by migration policy worldwide for 5 years, we are
now present in Belgrade at Miksaliste hub and Krnjaca asylum center in order to
provide the most suitable service to our beneficiaries.

Through different kind of activities, creative, educational and recreational,
developed in consultation with children, expert teams of the Center for Youth
Integration have provided psychosocial support to more than 15 000 children and
their families. Special attention is focused on working with unaccompanied children
as the most vulnerable group of children. In cooperation with institutions and other
organizations present on the field we provide every child with access to the service
he needs. Specially educated cultural mediators ensure that services are fully
compatible with the cultural and linguistic context from which the refugees come.

Current donor is Save the Children in North West Balkans.

 
 

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