COMPASSIVA ON THE STREETS

Following more than ten years of work with children and adolescents living on the streets, in 2017 a few changes were made to the project. Its focus went from being on children and adolescents living on the streets to being on the families served by the following of Compassiva’s projects: Sports (through the DOJO project) and Children in Action.

 

Starting with the understanding that every individual is part of a larger social context, Compassiva on the Streets has always made every effort to reach the families of the children and adolescents attending the project. We therefore make visits to the families and, with the demands and needs found in the family home as a guide, we seek transformation in partnership with the family, with the goal of strengthening the family structure.

 

The activities carried out include: listening, socio-familial guidance, referrals to work or courses, support with documentation, and the distribution of donations, among others. All the activities seek to promote the independence of the individuals and families attended.

 

Project Activities:  
Wednesday: 2-5pm – family visits.

 

PROJECT FLOURISH

In the midst of the numerous needs found in our local community, unemployment amongst women is a serious problem. The majority of these women are single mothers with few qualifications, facing difficulty to integrate into the formal labour market.

 

However, they have skills, gifts and talents with a lot of potential to generate income for their families. Project Flourish therefore aims to be a space which simulates this potential.

 

We currently have two projects for women:

 

• Transformative Workshops

In 2016 we launched Transformative Workshops, having noticed through our work with Compassiva in the Streets that many families lived near our headquarters.

 

Such families face challenges such as unemployment, financial and familial instability, a lack of basic structure and no support to deal with the vulnerable situations they live in. Something which also stood out to us was that the majority of these families are basically completely reliant on the mother-figure in their day-to-day lives. We therefore wanted to build relationships with these women to walk alongside them, to share ups and downs, and to offer any necessary support.

 

The aim of the workshops is therefore to create a cosy and welcoming atmosphere for these women. We always offer coffee, cake and a craft activity, so bonds can be created and an environment of trust can flourish. The craft activities include sewing, painting, decoupage, and many others. The objective is to offer them, in the midst of such a complicated context, a weekly moment of respite.

 

Project Activities:  
Tuesday: 2-4pm – craft class, reflections and coffee

 

• LAR Workshops

Aside from the need to start morning Portuguese classes exclusively for refugee women of Arabic origin, we also noticed the need to offer these women the opportunity to have more autonomy, generating extra income for themselves and their families.

 

In 2017 we launched LAR Workshops, aiming to train refugee women served by Compassiva to make artisanal soap, with the aim of generating extra income as well as offering the chance to socialise.

 

Spaces are limited and classes begin every semester.

 

Project Activities:  
Wednesday: 2-4pm – artisanal soap-making classes