The Foundation of Social Integration Prom

The Foundation of Social Integration Prom was established in 2004 in Wroclaw, Poland. Its goal is to integrate and support people from disadvantaged backgrounds, in particular those from the Roma minority. With the belief that it is necessary to get to know each order to end discrimination and negative stereotypes, we organise educational and creative activities and provide spaces were Roma and Polish people can meet and learn from each other. In addition, we have wide experience working with youth mobility: we have hosted volunteers and interns from abroad for over 10 years. We believe that having international people collaborating in our local community can bring tolerance and intercultural learning to all the parts involved. We run a community centre for Roma and Polish children in the city, and this year we have started a Senior Club, which offers various trips for elderly people and handicraft workshops. Our sources of funding are the Human Capital Operational Programme from EU Funds, Lower Silesia Governor's Office, Ministry of Administration and Digitization, Municipality of Wroclaw, Erasmus +, European Solidarity Corps, Visegrad Fund and private sponsors. Our main fields of activity are: -Assistance and integration of Roma minority in the city: We do it by running community centres, organising food distribution, employment support, free legal advice, social campaigning and the creation of books and publications about their culture. With the support of the Municipality of Wroclaw, since 2004 we run community centres for Roma and Polish Kids and adolescents. There they receive help with their homework, take part in trips and do creative activities. Our international volunteers offer assistance in the centres and prepare workshops and presentations about their countries. In order to cooperate with other institutions working in the field, we organize multilateral study visits for our counterparts in the Visegrad countries, which helps us implement knowledge and interesting ideas in our daily work. We provide counselling for Roma in different areas. In the period 2012 - 2014 we participated in “Different citizens-one city” (“Różni obywatele-jedno miasto”), running 4 counselling centres for Roma adults, with professional advice on legal, social and health issues, plus a speech therapist and a nutritionist for children. We helped 180 adults and 30 kids. In the project “Way to Employment” (“Droga do zatrudnienia”) in Lower Silesia, developed between 2014 and 2019, adults were educated on legal and civil matters, took part in career-oriented workshops and got work placements. Other of our ways of action is social campaigning. Between 2012 and 2015 we ran two editions of “One of the many” (“Jedni z wielu”) in Lower Silesia, which aim was to improve the image of the Roma community, to increase the knowledge about this minority and eliminate stereotypes. The message was based on photographs of authentic Polish Roma figures. The project was advertised on billboards in the city, murals, on media and social media. The exhibition was also hosted in Berlin and was a part of the festival "Kaleidoscope of Cultures" (“Kalejdoskop Kultur”) devoted to minorities of Wroclaw. We also created science publications, such as “Situation of the Roma Minority in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia”, “Education of the Roma”, and comics about their culture, for instance, “Roma history in pictures” and “Roma professions”. Youth mobility: For many years we have hosted foreign interns and volunteers in our office. Since 2009 we take part in the voluntary programs promoted by the European Union: Youth in Action, Erasmus+, and now European Solidarity Corps. We hold a Quality Label for supporting and sending organisation of volunteers. With the support of the European Union, in 2010 we started hosting volunteers in our children centre, and from 2018 in our office. In addition, we coordinate those working in our partner schools and kindergartens