For many refugees arriving in Greece, Athens represents a city where they endeavor to establish a new life or await opportunities to relocate to a new country. However, they confront enormous challenges, including bureaucratic obstacles, high unemployment rates, and insufficient access to fundamental necessities such as food, shelter, and employment. Gender inequalities further complicate social and economic integration. The absence of state housing projects for refugees within the city and remote camp locations exacerbate the difficulty in accessing essential support services.
Our women’s and children’s space is dedicated to providing a welcoming environment, empowering women and children from refugee backgrounds. Here, they can spend their days in a secure setting, building connections, engaging in various activities (with childcare provided), and acquiring new skills. We offer access to essential items such as diapers, sanitary pads, condoms, clothing, and newborn packs, along with crucial medical and legal support.
Our space serves approximately 80 women and children daily.
The women’s space allows women to access a clean, calm, safe, and supportive community space every day. Services provided in the women’s space include:
Our child-friendly area provides a safe and fun space for children. It’s equipped with arts and crafts materials, a toy cooking station, a reading corner, and lots of toys to play with. In our kids’ space, we provide supervised child care for mothers and fathers who take part in services provided by us or our partner organizations in the Victoria Community Center. Activities include Greek, English, IT, and art classes, psychological and legal support sessions, and cafe space for parents to relax. Once a week we are able to provide a pediatric services in our space including general consultations, vaccinations, school health certificates and many other things in partnership with SAMS.
Our creative studio offers women the opportunity to learn a new craft, realize their own projects and find meaningful employment. It is well-equipped with two industrial sewing machines, one industrial overlock sewing machine and another six household sewing machines. In the studio, the women are provided with all the necessary materials to realize their own project. In addition to sewing & crochet classes, the women can also learn how to knot simple key rings or bracelets in weekly workshops. This allows the women to learn new practical skills and engage in creative activities.
In our “Social Factory”, we offer six women with a refugee background the opportunity to take a first step towards independence. By designing and making products, they earn a fair wage, which not only strengthens their self-confidence but also helps them to become financially independent. During working hours, the children are cared for in our daycare, which is only a 5-minute walk from our community centre.
To make our unique creations, we mainly use recycled fabrics that we collect at the weekly Eleonas flea market. Fanny packs, scrunchies, crochet accessories and other products are sold at markets, in our online shop and in shops in Switzerland. Each product carries a label with the tailor’s story, giving her a voice. Every purchase has a profound social impact. As a non-profit organization, all profits from sales go back into the wages of our artisans and the community center.
Our female tailors in Athens can produce customized items of your choice. Do you need an unforgettable gift for a loved one, do you want to treat yourself to something nice, or do you need Christmas presents for your company? By ordering from our textile makerspace, you provide an income for refugee women and their families. We are at your disposal with our support and advice at any time.
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