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Description
Ocalenie Foundation has been carrying out activities supporting foreigners with migration and refugee experience in Poland since 2000. It focuses on integration activities and, since 2021, has also carried out humanitarian activities in the Polish-Belarusian borderland.
Ocalenie offers comprehensive support through its Assistance Centres for Foreigners in Warsaw, Lodz and Lomza, which benefit around 10,000 people per year. The centres offer consultations with cultural mentors, legal support, material assistance, Polish language classes, vocational guidance and psychological support.
Children can benefit from individual tutoring in Warsaw and day care centres in Warsaw, Lomza and Lodz. Ocalenie also runs housing support programmes and material assistance at the free social shop "Magazin" in Warsaw.
The Foundation pays special attention to people at risk of social exclusion victims of torture, war and persecution, single parents, foreigners experiencing cross discrimination, e.g. based on gender or sexual orientation.
Since Russia''s aggression against Ukraine, the Foundation has been intervening on behalf of Ukrainian refugees and refugee women: organising accommodation, transport, food, safe space for children in reception centres at the border, day-care centres for children and young people in Warsaw and the Mazovian and Lublin Voivodeships, counselling and specialist assistance.
The foundation''s field team is permanently present at the border with Belarus providing humanitarian assistance. Assistance activities are also carried out in closed centres for foreigners, where material aid and legal support are provided.
As part of the organizational grant, Ocalenie wants to strengthen the team for cooperation with business in order to increase the scale of support for foreigners on the labour market; to create a counselling website for the foundation''s clients/ clients; and a communication and internal policy system adapted to the needs of the foundation''s growing team.
Summary of project results
The Ocalenie Foundation has been supporting people with migration and refugee experiences in Poland since 2000. It focuses on integration activities and, since 2021, has also carried out humanitarian activities in the Polish-Belarusian borderland.
The Foundation offers comprehensive support through its Centre for Assistance to Foreigners (CPC) in Warsaw. Approximately 6,000 people benefit from the CPC''s support annually. A foreigner coming to the CPC can benefit from the support of cultural mentors and mentors, legal and professional counselling, psychological and psychotherapeutic consultations, Polish language courses and in-kind assistance within the free-shop.
The Foundation also runs two programmes aimed at children and young people: Knowledge to Power is a tutoring programme, and it also runs day care centres in Warsaw and Łódź.
As part of its housing and integration programmes, Ocalenie supports refugees at risk of homelessness. In the Welcome Home programme, support is provided to families while in the Refugees Welcome Poland programme similar support is provided to independent persons.
The Foundation pays special attention to people at risk of social exclusion victims of torture, war and persecution, single parents, foreigners experiencing cross discrimination, e.g. based on gender or sexual orientation.
Between 2022 and 2023, since the start of Russia''s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the Foundation has provided interventions for Ukrainian refugees and refugee women, including night shelters and hotel accommodation, transport from the border to Warsaw, points that are safe spaces for children in reception centres at the border, day care centres for children and young people in Warsaw and in the Mazovia and Lublin Voivodeships, counselling and specialist assistance.
The foundation''s field team is permanently present at the border with Belarus providing humanitarian assistance.
Within the framework of the organisational grant, Ocalenie strengthened the internal communication system, created internal policies (anti-bullying and anti-discrimination procedure, update of the Child Protection Policy and regulations of the company''s social benefits fund) adapted to the needs of the Foundation''s expanding team.
By strengthening the team for cooperation with business, the organisation created 2 new initiatives to support foreigners on the labour market. A counselling website for the foundation''s clients was also created in 4 language versions: Polish, English, Ukrainian and Russian.
The main results of the organisational grant are an increase in the effectiveness of internal communication within the organisation, an increase in the number of business donors supporting Polish language learning and career counselling, an increase in access to career counselling for foreigners.