ARSIS - Association for the Social Support of Youth

Address www.arsis.gr
Country

Greece

E-mail infothes@arsis.gr
ARSIS was established in 1992 with the aim to support socially disadvantaged children who are threatened with social exclusion and marginalization, to safeguard human rights and also to develop services for vulnerable social groups. Its action in Thessaloniki established in 1996 and to date it has carried out a great deal of programs in 10 cities of the wider region of Northern Greece.
Arsis currently operates in Athens, Thessaloniki, Volos, Ioannina, Kozani and Alexandroupoli.

Child Protection Services
Youth Support Centers provide services and actions to help children and youth, who receive insufficient support from their family surroundings and are faced with rejection from the educational system, neglect, migration, refuge, lack of accommodation or poor living conditions, abuse and exploitation as well as to help youth, which is threatened with social exclusion and marginalization.
Actions in refugee settlements and Roma camps as well as in run-down areas
Street Work Programme
Interventions in the school community:
 Human rights education in school units, parent-teacher associations, non-formal and formal educational schemes
Educational seminars to teachers for the implementation of handbooks of the Council of Europe ("Compass" and "Compasito") which concern the education for human rights with children and young people.
During 2017 YSCs support and provide services to more than 1500 children.
"The House of ARSIS": Shelter for the Temporary Accommodation of Minors at risk.
The House of ARSIS is a temporary accommodation shelter for minors and it is addressed to children and teenagers who have been victims of neglect, abuse and trafficking and to children who are in state of danger because of adverse family or socio- economic conditions. Those children are transferred to the shelter after a social research has been conducted by of the civil Social Services and the Public Prosecutor, who evaluate the urgency for the child to be taken away from the environment which has been decided inappropriate for its care and protection.
 
Support Services for Unaccompanied Children
Over the last decade, especially during the refugee crisis, thousands of unaccompanied children from third-world countries, especially from regions in war (Syria, Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan, sub-Saharan Africa, etc.) have arrived in Greece striving to ensure a safer present and a better future in the E.U. countries. For this cause ARSIS in collaboration with all the competent actors created gradually a strong network of services in various areas which meet a broad range of the unaccompanied children's needs not only on a primary care level but also for their social adjustment and integration.
Shelter for unaccompanied minors asylum seekers: In Thessaloniki there are 3 shelters for unaccompanied children asylum seekers with a total capacity of 90 children, providing accommodation and meeting basic needs, education, legal and psychosocial support, community interconnection and, in general, a secure framework for personality development.
“Safe Zone": Temporary Accommodation Facilities for Unaccompanied Children places inside the camps. A total of 120 children are housed in 5 "Safe Zone" created by ARSIS at Refugee Reception Centers in Northern Greece in Diavata, Lagkadikia, Ioannina, Drama and Kavala and covering all the needs of unaccompanied children: Full provision of nutrition, Provision of clothing, Psychosocial support and personal, Legal support, clothing, Support in school enrolment, aiming at smooth social integration, socialization, development of basic individual skills and their active participation in the school environment and in sports and recreational activities.
Child Protection Service for unaccompanied children and children refugees, which responds and manages extraordinary requests related to the protection and care of children.
Street work team for the identification and protection of unaccompanied children and children refugees living in conditions of homelessness.

Housing and psychosocial support to vulnerable social groups.
The Social Service for the Support of Vulnerable Social Groups is operating by ARSIS since 2005 to support socially disadvantaged adults, who are facing major difficulties and problems in their everyday life, have specific requests and seek help. Every person can have access to this service without any discrimination and regardless of nationality, religion or specific cultural and social characteristics.
The beneficiaries of the Service are people who faced poverty, long-term unemployed, with low or zero income, single parent families, refugees, immigrants, Roma, former prisoners, former addicts and people who feel marginalized from the economic and social life. Those people seek help to meet their primary living and social needs including accommodation, nutrition, clothing, healthcare, employment. Furthermore, these people receive information, counseling, facilitation in contact and communication with social services, integration in working skills development programs, job counseling, psychological encouragement and support to tackle with problems and needs of their everyday life.
The Social Service is associated with SYN-PRAXI, a collection and distribution bank of goods of everyday use.
- Accommodation - Support
In order to successfully tackle the issue of homelessness, ARSIS implements specific and thorough accommodation schemes, both for the local population and refugees.
More specifically, holistic accommodation and everyday social services are provided to homeless individuals that reside in our city, including locating and assisting people living in the streets, temporarily accommodating them in the "Sleeping Dormitory for the Homeless" (δεν ξέρω αν έχουμε ορολογία για το υπνωτήριο) and their inclusion to a more thorough rehabilitation program, aiming at their personal autonomy. Today, ARSIS supports the notion of accommodation by providing 52 apartments for 86 homeless people.
Specifically targeted to the refugee population, a collaboration with the United Nations Higher Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), provides accommodation and everyday supplies to 45 apartments that host approximately 700 individuals; at the same time, all services required to face everyday challenges and adapt to the social and cultural environment are also provided.

Development of Socio-educational Services in Reception and Accommodation Centers for Refugees:
ARSIS, in collaboration with international non-governmental organizations specialized in humanitarian missions, has established a Service Network for Refugees Reception and Accommodation Centers in Diavata, Lagkadikia, Nea Kavala, Filippiada, Konitsa, Larissa. These services help people to cope with the difficulties, needs and problems of everyday life in the Centers, but also to support the effort for social activation and integration into the life of the nearest urban centers. These services help people to cope with the difficulties, needs and problems of everyday life in the Centers, but also to support the effort for social activation and integration into the life of the nearest urban centers
 
VOLUNTEERING
The actions of ARSIS concern a broad range social intervention actions and they depend to a great extent on the participation and contribution of volunteers, who are trained and offer their service under the supervision and guidance of the scientific staff.
In parallel, ARSIS co-operates with public and private educational organizations being a Traineeship Centre for students, degree-holders and post graduate students of social, pedagogic and other faculties. The aim of those collaborations is the contact of the students with the potential working environment, the enrichment of the students' knowledge and experience, as well as the creation of a steady bond between the education of social sciences and practical implementation.

Projects involved as Lead-partner

1) In4Child

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