Section SOCIETY
TOPIC

ARSIS - YOUTH SUPPORT SOCIAL ORGANIZATION
SYN-PRAXI - Collection, Sorting and Distribution Network of essential items for those in need

The goal of the "SYN-PRAXI" Collection, Sorting and Distribution Network is to provide material support to people who belong to vulnerable groups and are deprived of basic items. ARSIS took the initiative to create the COOPERATION Network in order to be able to offer to those in need. The Network aims to combat poverty as a basic prerequisite for the further empowerment of the individual. The coverage of a person's basic needs is a basic condition for any action of psychosocial support, child protection, social integration, reintegration, efforts to connect or return to the labor market, and other more specialized services provided either by ARSIS or by other Organizations and Bodies .

Today, dozens of people in Thessaloniki who live or are at risk of being below the poverty line or face conditions of social exclusion visit the SYN-PRAXIS Network every day.

The JOINT ACTION Network remains accessible to anyone in need. More specifically, this is addressed to:

  • families and individuals with low or no income
  • refugees and immigrants
  • homeless
  • ROMA
  • released / imprisoned
  • elderly people who lack the financial ability to meet their basic needs

The Network was established in December 2000, however in its current form it has existed since 2015. The Network will continue its operation in the future.

The Network of Collection, Sorting and Distribution of essential items for those who need them "SYN-PRAXI" has been operating in Thessaloniki since December 2000.

The Network currently consists of:

  • An underground area of 300 sq.m. in a central part of the city where the items are made available to those served (70 Venizelou Street, Postal Code: 54631, tel: 2315504301, email: [email protected], opening hours for the public 9.30 in the morning to 4.30 in the afternoon).
  • A large warehouse (1,600 sq.m.) - kindly sponsored by the Thessaloniki Port Authority - for gathering and sorting the offered items (Apotheki 15, Port of Thessaloniki, tel: 6934863689, email:[email protected], opening hours for the public , from 8 am to 4 pm).
  • Three van type vehicles for receiving and transporting items.

As it also connects with all the structures and programs of ARSIS in Thessaloniki, and in general Northern Greece, but also with other agencies, organizations and institutions of the city.
The Network is based in the center of Thessaloniki, serving its easy access by population groups that need its services. At 70 Venizelou Street is the distribution point of SYN-PRAXIS where people in need of material goods come with a specific request signed by a social scientist from the structures of ARSIS or other Organizations and Organizations to cover their needs.

Dozens of people are served every day, receiving items donated by our sensitized fellow citizens, businesses or associations, foundations and other non-governmental organizations.

SYN-PRAXI functions as an integral part of the services of ARSIS, but also of the social services of Thessaloniki in general, and its action extends within the model of the holistic approach and the humanitarian theory that form the basis of all the services and structures of ARSIS .

Through its years of operation, the SYN-PRAXIS Network has developed and operates by applying a specific methodology, which aims to:

  • serving as many people in need as possible
  • optimal management of Network resources, items offered by citizens
  • the holistic support of the served
  • respect for human dignity and privacy
  • the approach of more and more donations
  • transparency

The majority of those served by SYN-PRAXIS visit the distribution point after being referred by a social scientist. On the one hand, in this way, it is ensured that the serviced person has discussed with a specialized scientist who has taken his social history and has recognized the serviced person's need for material support, in the context of the wider psychosocial support he will receive. On the other hand, it means that the client and the social scientist have jointly designed their support plan. In this way, the person served who will receive items commits to follow actions that will improve his position and bring him closer to independence and autonomy. Thus, the items he will receive are the basis for him to be able to be strengthened holistically and not an individual aid - alms, thus multiplying the value of the items given for disposal.

A very important element is that each client visits the site alone or with family members after an appointment. In addition, he is given the opportunity to choose what he will take. The space works like a store, where everyone gets free what they want according to their personal taste once their need has been established. In this way the person does not come to a difficult position, and does not enter a position of a passive receiver of help. This is an important factor for the activation of the individual and his further integration.

The SYN-PRAXIS Network operates as an open service to all residents of Thessaloniki. Based on its methodology, it accepts clients through referrals from other structures and services with which it develops informal partnerships.

The Network is interconnected with:

- The Streetwork program for the homeless and the Reinitiation program of the Municipality of Thessaloniki, implemented in collaboration with ARSIS and financed by the Stavros Niarchos Foundation

- Social Services of Non-Governmental Organizations in Thessaloniki

- Open Refugee Accommodation Structures (camps)

- The ESTIA program of the UN High Commission

Also important are the collaborations of the Network with businesses or associations, institutions and other non-governmental organizations which from time to time offer items for disposal. The Network accepts hundreds of items, which it offers to its users, such as:

  • Clothing and footwear (men's, women's and children's, underwear, clothes, coats, shoes)
  • Linens and bedding (sheets, towels, pillows, duvets, blankets)
  • Kitchenware (plates, glasses, cutlery, pots and various kitchen utensils)
  • Games
  • Books and school supplies (children's, school, literary, foreign language, school bags and stationery)
  • Baby items (strollers, bassinets, feeding and car seats, bottles and nappies)
  • Small and large electrical appliances (refrigerators, kitchens, washing machines, kettles, toasters, radiators, etc.)
  • Furniture of all kinds
  • Food (mainly dry and long-life food)
  • Personal hygiene products (soaps, shampoos, shower gels)

Most of the donations available through SYN-PRAXIS come from private individuals. This is a major help for the Network. In addition, sensitized citizens help as volunteers in the organization, administrative support and sorting of items, significantly supporting the staff working in the program.

Thessaloniki - Central Macedonia

In 2018 SYN-PRAXI served 1,561 of our fellow human beings (unique cases) and their families by providing over 5,600 adults and children with clothing, footwear, furniture, household goods, toys and school supplies. The work of the Network increased significantly, as throughout 2017 approximately 4,200 people had been served.

374 people visited SYN-PRAXI more than once. In particular, during it, 2,316 appointments were recorded which were preceded by a meeting and discussion with social workers and social scientists.

Through the provision of items, the improvement of the living conditions of those served was achieved and, much more, the conditions were set that allowed for further assistance and framing of individuals in integration and protection programs and actions.

We consider it particularly important that over 5,600 adults and children in Thessaloniki who live in conditions of poverty or disadvantage received material aid. In this way, they had easier access to social services aimed at their social inclusion and economic autonomy. Adults and children got clothes to dress up, go to a job, children were able to go to their school without being ashamed, children got school supplies to continue school, got toys. They also received basic hygiene items, household equipment, small furniture and electrical items, improving their living conditions and the hygiene of their home.

The existence of the SYN-PRAXIS Network in the city facilitates ARSIS, as in other organizations, to be able to provide better quality services such as psychosocial support, child protection, social integration, reintegration, efforts to connect or return to the labor market, and more specialized services. It is considered very important that social workers, social scientists and child protection professionals are able to refer their beneficiaries to meet their basic needs. In this way they can better work towards holistically and specifically supporting individuals based on their needs.

Specifically, in 2018 the following structures and programs of ARSIS utilized the special dynamics of the Network:

- Housing programs such as Housing and Work, Restart, ESTIA

- Children's accommodation and protection structures such as: the seven accommodation structures for unaccompanied minors and the ARSIS House

- The ARSIS Youth Support Centers

- Streetwork groups for homeless, unaccompanied minors and children.

- Interventions in refugee and Roma camps

It is worth noting that the possibility of providing items through the JOINT ACTION Network has been added to the methodology of many of the above programs and actions. More specifically, the attraction of ARSIS by people in need, allows the intervention of the Organization in matters concerning the violation of human rights, and in particular the protection of the child, and then their support.