PIER Partners
ARSIS Greece (Association for the Social Support of Youth)
ARSIS Greece (Association for the Social Support of Youth) is a non-governmental organization, specializing in the social support of youth who are in difficulty or danger and actively advocating for their rights. The organization´s main target is the prevention of youth marginalization, the elaboration of policies, which defend youth rights and the active social support towards disadvantaged young people.
Based in Greece, the organization was established in 1992 and since then it operates in Athens, Thessaloniki, Volos, Alexandroupoli, Kozani and Tirana, based on the active participation of members, volunteers and young people.
ARSIS’ vision is a society of equal opportunities for all young individuals with respect of their rights, like those that are outlined in the Greek and International Law through the UN Convention on the Rights of Children.
Services provided by ARSIS include among other things psychosocial support (e. g. counselling, group work, liaison with social services), preparation for employment (e. g. assessment, orientation, basic skill development), legal support (e. g. information and counselling concerning issues with the law) and educational support (e. g. educational support for migrants and refugees) as well as social and recreational activities.
CARITAS ITALY (Caritas Italiana)
CARITAS ITALY (Caritas Italiana) was founded in 1971 to promote charity with a commitment to raising public awareness. The umbrella organization encompasses 220 diocesan Caritas associations in Italy, committed to support the most vulnerable people in their daily activities. Together, they focus their activities on different forms of poverty, social exclusion and inequality, mental health and homelessness as well as migration and asylum.
Caritas Italy organizes and coordinates foreign aid and disaster relief. Another emphasis of their work is raising awareness for social problems and promoting the care for those in need. The organization coordinates various initiatives and charitable actions, inspired by humanitarian values.
Caritas Italy also carries out research on the causes of poverty, intensively analyzing the situation and causing factors of those in need as well as encouraging civil institutions to take the appropriate actions through legislation.
In Italy the PIER Program is also coordinated by the Consorzio Communitas, a network of professionals in the field of social assistance and humanitarian aid. Within Consorzio Communitas those social workers combine their efforts to create a national network of institutions involved in those matters. The Consortium is inspired by the principles and values of the "Carta Pastorale" by Caritas Italiana and applies the intervention means promoted by Caritas Italiana.
https://www.caritas.it/home_page/who_we_are/00000964_Who_we_are.html
CARITAS AUSTRIA
At the start of the 20th century, Caritas Austria began its purpose to help those in need. The organization´s first action was to give food and clothing to alleviate the suffering of the people during and after the First World War. More than a century later, Caritas Austria’s broad scope of programs underscores the enduring commitment to prevent and ease the hardships of the poor.
The main goal of Caritas Austria is to see hardship and act on it. This means to respect human life to its whole extent and to protect and help people in need, regardless of their origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation and abilities. It includes helping and empowering people in need to help them help themselves, as well as representing people who do not have a voice of their own (legal representation, lobbying).
At the heart of Caritas´ work is a wide-range of 1,600 social assistance programs that target the poor and vulnerable in Austria. Among other things the services provided include legal and psychosocial counselling for people in need, the collection and distribution of food and other in kind donations, homeless and emergency shelters as well as shelters for mothers and their children, street work and counselling for people struggling with addictions, mobile and in-patient care for the elderly, support for caregivers, housing and job trainings for people with disabilities, legal counselling and representation as well as integration and educational activities, trauma relief and psychological care for refugees.
Caritas Austria is often collaborating with members of Caritas Europa and Caritas Internationalis on overseas emergency and developmental programs, playing a key role in the area of foreign aid overseas. In the year 2015 Caritas Austria was engaged in over 620 aid projects. The efforts in the area of disaster relief currently concentrate on nine global focus points including the West Balkan route, the Middle East, Greece, Nepal and Africa’s youngest country South-Sudan.