The “Safe Home” programme for unaccompanied refugee minors was designed and implemented during the refugee crisis of 2015-2016. Our primary concern was to protect unaccompanied refugee children who arrived in Greece alone or were already in the country without any other member of their family.
In addition to its own initiatives that were financed by its own funds, Bodossaki Foundation also joined forces with donors from Greece and abroad, to ensure that refugee children are taken care of in the best possible way. Thus, we were able to secure the resources required to support a total of eight (8) shelters for unaccompanied refugee children in various locations in the country, as well as to provide the Reception and Identification Centre in Evros with the equipment necessary for its operation. We also collected donations for the purchase of equipment, food supplies and educational material, and helped develop and implement information and awareness initiatives.
Accommodation for refugee children: During the first stage of this thematic programme, drawing on contributions from donors in Greece and all over the world, Bodossaki Foundation focused on the children’s most pressing need – accommodation.
Thus, it financed the reconstruction of two new shelters for unaccompanied minors, namely the “Iris” shelter operated by the “Medical Intervention” NGO and the shelter of the Malliopouleion Charitable Foundation in Kypseli, operated by Praksis NGO.
Assistance was also provided to the programme of METAdrasi NGO for ensuring temporary foster care for unaccompanied refugee children.
As the situation evolved, with donations from Greece and abroad growing in volume while securing accommodation for the children remained an urgent need, the Foundation proceeded to support the operation of shelters for unaccompanied refugee children and to provide equipment to the Refugee Reception and Identification Centre in Evros.
Equipment, food supplies and educational material:
Using donations from third parties who joined forces with Bodossaki Foundation, computers, toys, schoolbooks in Arabic, toiletries and clothing articles were purchased and offered to various shelters. Infant’s and children’s milk quantities were also offered to the Refugee Reception and Identification Centre in the island of Samos.
Awareness and promotion initiatives
- The Hellenic Hoteliers Federation (HHF) and the Athens-Attica Hoteliers Association (AAHA) developed the “Hotels Giving for Kids” initiative, aimed at mobilising their members to contribute to the efforts to support unaccompanied refugee children.
- MEGA TV, in the framework of its social responsibility initiatives under the “MEGAMAZI” (“MEGA TOGETHER”) umbrella programme, created and aired, free of charge, a TV spot to raise public awareness of the need to support unaccompanied refugee children.
- Finally, Solid HAVAS Communication and the TopCut-Modiano production company worked together, free of charge, to create a public awareness television message concerning unaccompanied refugee children. After obtaining the approval of the Greek National Council for Radio and Television (NCRT), the spot was aired in April 2017 as a social message by all nationwide television channels.
