Foundation "SolidarityWorks"

Foundation "SolidarityWorks" is a nonprofit registered in Bulgaria which is financed through donations and project funding. The foundation is a voluntary, self-governed, community-based organization without political or religious affiliation. Our main goal is to promote, encourage and support the sustainable development of individuals and communities through solidarity and collective action for social change. Furthermore, we aim to support and expand the equal access to education and opportunities for development, and work to overcome the impact of inequality and violence, as well as reduce it. Working with marginalized groups Our work supports and promotes critical thinking, active citizenship and collective action among a diverse range of groups including refugees, immigrants, orphans and low-income individuals. Whereas we intentionally include marginalized participants in all our programs, our language courses for refugees in Sofia, as well as our Survivor retreats for women who have experienced domestic violence are examples of our targeted work with disadvantaged and victimized populations. We strive to empower these groups by providing them with meaningful learning experiences, as well as mobilising them for action on both individual and collective level. Youth Work and Development Our immersion language and leadership programs (aka “Immersion Academy”) for youth develop participants’ critical thinking skills, support young people in their process of self-empowerment, and promote the ideal of active citizenship and change-making through diverse forms of leadership. During our programs young people go through an intensive and insightful process of identifying problems they want to solve, brainstorming solutions, developing business ideas and action plans, and learning how to acquire resources and support to put their ideas into action. In the process they learn how to successfully pitch their entrepreneurship ideas in front of investors and stakeholders, as well as how to finetune their ideas to make them realistic and impactful. In addition to our own projects, we support several partnering organizations in Bulgaria by investing in their capacity building through mentorship, resource sharing and inclusion of their youth leaders and participants in our programming. Paulo Freire’s participatory pedagogy—which inspires our programs—emphasizes dialogue as the main instrument for action, collaboration, and collective reflection which fosters responsible, active, and justice-oriented citizens. To that end, our programs facilitate an active, participant-driven process of intercultural dialogue and engagement which emphasizes finding common interests and strengths, and reframing differences so that they become a source of richness and collective appreciation, and not a source of conflicts and social struggles. Women Empowerment Foundation “SolidarityWorks” offers retreats for women and youth who have experienced domestic violence. Domestic violence is an issue that is closely related to gender norms, roles and expectations. During our retreats women receive support to deal with their trauma, as well as set goals, plan for the future, and increase their financial independence. Whereas personal development is a priority for all our projects, it is a cornerstone for our Survivor Retreats for women and girls who have experienced domestic violence, whereby we seek to give women an opportunity to reflect on and become more attuned to their personal needs and priorities, and devise action plans to meet their goals. Domestic Violence and Intimate Violence Prevention Other activities related to women we are currently planning include a training course called “Educate and Empower: social work against domestic violence”, funded by the Erasmus+ programme to be held in June 2020, whereby we will train youth workers from 6 countries how to best support domestic violence affected youth, as well as protect themselves from burn out and work-related stress. In April we will host a youth exchange project titled “Love is Kind: Youth prevent Domestic Violence through Art” whereby young people from 5 countries will learn about domestic violence, as well as how to have healthy relationships, and will create art in order to raise awareness and prevent domestic violence in their respective communities. We will also organize several art exhibitions and community discussions in each partnering country. Rural Development and Intergenerational dialogue Our training centre is located in the village of Drugan, 10kms away from the town of Radomir and 50kms away from Sofia. The village's population consist of 350 elderly residents with whom we strive to build active dialogue. To that end, our volunteers applied for and received funding for a Solidarity Project within the European Solidarity Corps to carry out an ethnographic study of the village. Within 12 months we are interviewing 40+ local residents whose stories and experiences we will collect in a special ethnographic book which will be shared both digitally and on paper. The main goal of this project is to create opportunities for intergenerational dialogue, as well as documentation of livelihood practices and life experiences of the rural residents. Additionally, hosting international projects in the village allows the local community to experience new cultures, as well as innovation. Volunteering and sustainability The history of our center for learning, sharing and exchange begins in 2018 when we decided to transform an old rural house into our own space for learning amidst nature. Throughout 2019 over 50 volunteers took part in weekly work camps during which we worked on renovations, garden development and maintanance and building of community relations with the village residents. Thanks to having our own space in the village of Drugan participants in our diverse programs can experience the peace and quiet of living closer to the nature, as well as partake in various activities that promote understanding of the environment and rural lifestyle. Furthermore, our projects hosted in the village support youth in building their exposure to environmental issues and developing skills related to the conscious consumption of resources, waste management and minimization, as well as overall environmental footprint reduction. We frequently host visits to local farms where youth take part in community service and spend time in close with farm animals. These visits are always followed by critical discussions of the experience, and challenge youth to reconsider their food habits, as well as reflect on animal rights. We achieve our goals by: - empowering individuals, marginalized groups and other collectives - supporting the equal access to education and opportunities for development, and work to overcome the impact of inequality, as well as reduce it - encouraging and supporting solidarity and cooperation between individuals and communities - developing the capacity for collective action toward social change - conducting advanced sociological research We have a strong international partner network consisting of schools, non-profit and for-profit organizations, as well as universities in the United States.