Camins. Fundació Social Escola Pia

Servei Solidari per la Inclusió Social Foundation was created in 2006, as a continuation of the Servei Solidari Association which was founded in 1993 with the backing of the educational institution EScola Pia de Catalunya. Servei Solidari’s mission is encouraging independence and full citizenship of youth and adults at risk of social exclusion by promoting the change towards a more fair society through education, entrepreneurship, awareness and comprehensive and networked care to the needs of individuals and groups. The Servei Solidari Foundation is currently running several projects grouped into the following areas: * Hosting and Training: Reception point, primary assistance and legal advice (social, employment and immigration). Literacy and languages: Catalan and Spanish courses, from beginners to advanced levels, as a way to welcome foreigners. Computer Literacy: Ensuring access to ICT so that no one is excluded for economic and educational reasons, or regional isolation. * Housing and educational program for young people: Shelter apartments with housing and services, where young people live who were under government guardianship until their age of majority. Public residence with a private management where ex-tutees follow a specific training, assisted by a team. Labour and language integration programs directed to young people, in specifically unaccompanied youth which recently migrated to Barcelona. * Mentoring: The Rossinyol - Barcelona program consists on finding those youngsters at risk of social exclusion, and setting an interaction plan with university students who will act as mentors (they will work in pairs). This will increase the minors’ self-confidence and show them a better horizon to their future, thanks to social improvement. The university students become a model for the minors and also benefit themselves from the interaction. BAB (neighborhood intervention brigades), is a pilot project that combines the mentoring and a service-learning approach. * Entrepreneurship: Social entrepreneurship and labour integration of people at risk of exclusion by creating their own workplace, encouraging the establishment of small business. The project provides continuous support and services, from the origin of the idea to the implementation and consolidation of the business. Each person gets response to his/her needs. Furthermore, training is provided both in group sessions and individual coaching, while combining group entrepreneurship practices mostly directed to migrant woman. A special focus towards social entrepreneurship is part of the strategic lines for the entrepreneurship program. Servei Solidari currently has 42 employees, distributed between various projects and the organization’s structure (communication, fundraising, economics, human resources...). The governing body is the board of trustees, consisting of 5 individuals who come from the education and social world. Voluntary work is an important part of the organization: Servei Solidari counts on it’s volunteers as agents of social change, and furthermore, volunteers are involved in the management of the organization and the design of its programs and activities. In the year 2017 Servei Solidari had 210 volunteers, as well as 15 practicing university students.