Valya* is not the most successful young woman in the history of the House of Opportunity.

Hers is a story of trial and error, about making choices and facing the possible consequences, a story about stubbornness and perseverance in an attempt to save one human’s destiny; to save Valya from getting lost among the statistics of young people who failed to escape exploitation at the hands of human traffickers.

Valya came from a medium-sized town in the countryside but she grew up in institutions. Her mother died when she was very young. Her father used to beat her and use her for begging when she was very young and eventually she was sent to a children’s home.

When she turned 18, a family invited her to live in their home. Even though she was receiving support and had a place to live, Valya just did not feel right there. At that time she found out about House of Opportunity programme from the young residents of an observed home in Ruse and whom Valya knew from the institutions she had grown up in. After a conversation with the manager of House of Opportunity, she was accepted in the programme.

The team at the House of Opportunity spent a great deal of effort encouraging Valya to finish her education but she failed all her exams. Inconsistency turned out to be a major problem for her in retaining work. In two years she changed seven jobs but she worked during the whole period of her stay in the House.

At the House of Opportunity Valya found not only support from the team, but also a safe family environment, where she was able to experiment and work to achieve her dreams, which were modest – a home and a family.

A month before Valya completed her time in the House of Opportunity Programme the team invited a specialist officer of the Border Police to tell the residents about the schemes and traps laid out for them by traffickers. He explained that offers of placements and employment from companies abroad need to be very carefully examined. He also gave them an international free-phone number that they could call if they needed to.

During that meeting, for the first time, Valya shared that her father is actually a trafficker who sends people to different countries, and, instead of delivering them a job, he takes their money and leaves them alone in the foreign country. The policeman confirmed that he knew Valya’s father, having been involved in his capture. He has been convicted and has spent some time in prison.

Several days after the meeting with the policeman and on the verge of her independence, her father’s sister contacted Valya. Her aunt offered her transport to the Czech Republic, accommodation and work. The two had not seen each other for years. When the team of House of Opportunity asked Valya where she was going to work, she told some of the members of the staff that she was going to work in a factory, and others that she was going to work in the fields. Then the team realized that she was not really aware of where she was going or what she was getting involved in.

The team tried to convince her that she was at high risk of becoming a victim of human trafficking, but she did not want to hear a word. Despite the advice, she was determined to go.

Having made up her mind, Valya asked the House of Opportunity team for one last favour – to contact FSCI’s team in Sofia and ask them to let her spend the night in a House of Opportunity in the capital because the bus to the Czech Republic was leaving early the next morning. They agreed, but they had an idea. They called their colleagues in Sofia, discussed the situation and decided to do everything possible to stop Valya going abroad.

The team in Sofia met Valya at the bus station, settled her at the local House of Opportunity and spent almost all night talking to Valya about her trip to the Czech Republic. At first Valya was angry with the team and didn’t want to listen, refusing to accept the likelihood of what lay in wait for her, but finally calmed down. The next morning, having considered the team’s counsel Valya decided not to go to the Czech Republic and returned to Ruse.

Thanks to the dedication and compassion of our team, we believe that Valya was saved from becoming another victim of human trafficking. Valya is still in Ruse, close to the House of Opportunity and the support it offers, but is working and living independently. And while living in this simple way might mean little for some, for Valya this means a lot and is perhaps the best thing that could have happened to her.

* Her real name is changed for the safety of the social service user

For the fourth consecutive year, the “Foundation for Social Change and Inclusion” gathered representatives of various non-governmental organizations from the Balkans and Southeast Europe to exchange experience on its Development Program with a focus on FSCI’s successful models, their replication in the region and the power of networks.

Seven NGOs from FSCI’s Development Programme took part, with delegates coming from Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Macedonia, Moldova, Serbia, Switzerland and the UK.

The main purpose of the annual conference was to share the projects’ progress in the different countries, exchange ideas on how to build successful support networks at local, national and international level, what are the trends in fund-raising in 2018, and how to develop a successful organizational strategy.

Held in Skopje over three days, the conference included sessions and workshops where experiences of partnership in the programme were exchanged, good practice shared and the difficulties encountered in working with youth, children and families from vulnerable groups were discussed.

Under its Development Programme, FSCI is currently partnering with seven like-minded organisations in the Balkans and Southeast Europe. Providing a manual for work on its programmes, regular training and meetings, FSCI is helping to successfully replicate the House Opportunity project in Serbia (2 family-type homes), Croatia (2 family-type homes) and Albania (1 family-type home). The Greek partners run a day care centre for young people leaving homes for children deprived of parental care in Athens, while partnerships are now being developed in both Moldova and Macedonia.

Good mood, mulled wine and delicious food, made by the young people at the observed home, and catering from HOPe Restaurant welcomed the guests at the celebration.

Stoyan Stoyanov, Manager of “House of Opportunity” Sofia shared more about the results from the past twelve months and the goals that the team has set for the future, while the ex residents of the social service, who now live independently, shared their experience during and after the observed home.

Today we celebrated the first anniversary of “House of Opportunity” Varna observed home. This is the latest fifth house that the “Foundation for Social Change and Inclusion” has opened as part of its programme for young people, grown up without parental care.

As the other four, the observed home offers more than housing tp the adolescents. The appartment provides crucial support in finding and keeping an appropriate job, building a healthy social environment, gaining essential social, domestic and work skills, that the young people haven’t been able to develop at the institution for children.

Here is what Boryana Madzhova, the coordinator of the “House of Opportunity” programme at FSCI shares about her work with the young people, the goal of the programme and the feeling of being part of the positive change for tens of young people, leaving social institutions every year.

“A year ago we opened “House of Opportunity” Varna. This was another serious challenge for the foundation in its noble cause for equal and dignified life for young people, leaving institutions for children deprived of parental care or foster care. The “House” gave a new chance to some of the hundreds of disadvantaged young people to take their life in their own hands and to grow up as contributing individuals and citizens.

The efforts of the team for prevention of social exclusion and involvement in different criminal structures have always been in the focus of our work.

Thus far, 12 young people have gone through “House of Opportunity” Varna and at the moment 5 of them continue developing their social and work skills under the roof of the observed home.

Apart from having an expert approach, the FSCI family and the teams working directly with the young people also put heart and soul into their work. They go together with the young people through their daily challenges of patience, through change, happiness and disappointments. Together we all continue learning to listen, to understand, to accept the others the way that they are.

We encounter difficulties on many levels – finding acceptance and understanding from the neighbours, patience from the employers, finishing education. What proves to be a serious challenge for us once more, is confronting the public attitudes and raising the sensitivity of the people around us towards the problems of the young people in the programme. There are also financial challenges, since the foundation relies entirely on support from partners and individuals for its financing.

We receive support from the local social structures and the help of employers and (un)ordinary people who reach out to us, ready to get involved in our cause depending on their own availabilities and understanding– with job offers, donations, but above all with empathy and acceptance.

However, the good results and the positive stories and cases are worth the worries and the efforts. I think that it is exactly here where the key for success is hidden in this work – in perceiving even the smallest things as accomplishments and in making young people believe in themselves and continue walking their path towards their better future.

Because this work is a mission and the boys and girls, who have grown up without the warmth of a real home or without parental love and support deserve to be given trust and a chance. Because the way public attitudes portray the young people is not a result of the young people’s personal choice, but a consequence of circumstances which don’t depend on them. This is something that we should all comprehend.

You can find more about the “House of Opportunity” programme here .

Charity calls for more focus on prevention in the fight against present day slavery.

Raising awareness of the existence of modern slavery will not end the exploitation of vulnerable people; more resources need to be focused on prevention if society is serious about tackling this huge social challenge, according to the Foundation for Social Change and Inclusion (FSCI).

“We welcome the courageous work of the Evening Standard and Independent’s investigation into modern slavery,” says Chris Mould, CEO of FSCI, “and we are delighted that Prime Minister May is making this a priority at the United Nations; but we want to add to her comments about raising awareness as a means of tackling the problem in the UK. We want to stop vulnerable young people from being drawn into slavery in the first place. For that to happen governments and businesses have to allocate more resources to organisations that intervene in the lives of at-risk groups to stop their futures being ruined by traffickers, pimps and labour-gang bosses.”

An example of an effective intervention project is FSCI’s House of Opportunity Programme, a network of small group homes that provide residential training and support for state and foster care leavers in SE Europe, a major source area for traffickers. State and foster care leavers are one of the softest targets for criminals; however, by providing them with a safe home in which to finish their education and take their first steps towards employment and a fulfilling life, the House of Opportunity is preventing dozens of young people every year from being dragged into poverty and exploitation.

But the current level of funding means relatively few young people have the opportunity to take this path. “We have limited resources which means we can’t have as great an impact as we know we could have if given the right funding,” explains Teodora Koleva, FSCI’s Bulgaria director. “Traffickers are clever criminals and very able in finding new markets in which to exploit their victims. By working in source countries like those throughout the Balkans we are able to reduce the number of vulnerable young people exposed to the criminals. Houses of Opportunity are cost-effective ways of changing the outcomes for young people at high risk of being trafficked. This is surely better than trying to patch these lives together after the trauma. That is why we are asking that support for prevention at source is added to the list of ways that government, business and media are working for change.”

source: www.fscinet.org

Like every year, the summer came and went, giving us numerous opportunities for happy adventures, joyful encounters with the sea, conquering mountain peaks and many, and I really mean many weddings.

I’m not sure if the number of people to be wedded is on the rise. I guess this is something for statistics enthusiasts. The one thing that we can confirm confidently is that the percentage of events (including weddings) supporting charities is progressively rising.

Good will gestures can be seen more often at such special events; they not only bring joy to the guests, leaving precious memories, but they also bring something good into the world, changing the society around us as well as the people that we meet. In this way they help us to change and develop, too.

Not too long ago, a colleague of mine shared that we can’t possibly succeed as individuals if we are ignorant of the problems in the society around us, because our environment is what partly defines us and what we can achieve as human beings.

Improving the conditions in society and reducing some of the social problems is exactly the mission of our workshops making soaps HOPe Soap.

Handmade by vulnerable young adults who grew up without parental care, the soaps are one of the ways to generate income for maintaining the Houses of Opportunity.

The small enterprise exists since 2012 with its main aim not only being the financial support of the Foundation but also the provision of a work environment for young adults in challenging life situations in order to give them a sense of belonging.

The shapes of the soaps are always adapted to the various seasons, to the client’s demands and to the feel of the event.

This summer the events were plentiful. Plentiful were also the soaps that the young people produced – hearts with different shapes and sizes to sea shells, anchors, starfishes, flowers and even footballs.

Some of the newly-weds decided to support FSCI, not only by giving handmade soaps as presents to their guests, but also by asking their guests to donate to the charity instead of buying flowers for them.

The wedding of Blagoi and Nadia had a blue colour scheme. Elena and Velcho chose lilac for their special day, others opted for a romantic classic pink and ordered little heart-shaped soaps in a sparkly bag. It all brought a sense of hope and beauty to the summer. It also brought awareness for a stronger society where people make the effort to help those who are less fortunate than themselves. And by doing so they become more responsible for their environment as well as better human beings.

For the fifth consecutive year, the passion for football gathered the young people from the Houses of Opportunity, the team of FSCI, young inmates from the youth prison in Boychinovtsi as well as volunteers.

Due to the extremely high temperatures, the match took place under the shade of the tress, very near to the building where the young inmates live and study. The audience consisted of the youth from the youth prison, the staff of the institution, members of FSCI and volunteers.

The match lasted an hour and a half, and the three teams needed to play against each other in order to see which one is the best. Even though the young guys from the youth prison were very talented, the winner of this year’s football match was the FSCI team.

In order for this event to take place, FSCI relied entirely on the donations from Bulgarian citizens. The amount which was collected was 1,177 lv. was used to cover the expenses for food for the young people from the Houses of Opportunity as well as for some presents for the inmates: school material, packaged food and cosmetics.

One goal of the “Football Summer in Boychinovtsi” initiative is to show young people deprived of their freedom that there are other alternatives to the criminal life, that they are not alone and forgotten, despite the wrong choices they made in the past, that there are people who are willing to help and support them once they leave the institution if they wish to change their lives. The other goal of the initiative is to provide opportunity for young people from the House of Opportunity Programme, managed by FSCI, to see the youth prison from the inside, to have a feel for it and hopefully to prevent them of ending up in one of those places in future.

How can you possibly manage to build a home when you have never had one?

30 young adults succeeded, thanks to the programme House of Opportunity and text messages from thousands of people.

In each House of Opportunity there is one room for girls and one room for boys

Close your eyes. Now imagine that you are very young again and you are at home. Can you smell the aroma at home- the combination between your mum’s pancakes, your dad’s aftershave, the flowers in the garden?

Now imagine what your life would you be like without this aroma – how would you live without this place that smells of home?

Well, this is the life for hundreds of young adults who leave institutions for children, deprived of parental care.

Abandoned by their own parents, the only aroma they could smell throughout all their childhood was the one of the social institution – a place that never felt like real home for them.

However, when they turn 18 they are expected to leave and suddenly become independent and able to create their own home.

How do you create a home when you have never had one before?

The people from the FSCI team are looking to answer this question. It gives young adults who are leaving social institutionsa chance to live in one of the family-style homes all around the country until they get more independent, finish their education and find a job.

The people from FSCI insist that this is the only way to stop the vicious circle of abandoned children who grow up and in turn abandon their own children.

First attempts at cooking

In the House of Opportunitythe young adults learn how to cope with life after the social institution. They stay in the flats for two years while receivingtraining and support in finding and keeping a job, developing work habits, personal finance and household management, adequate care for personal health, developing social skills and skills to create long-term positive relationships.

The aim of all of this is that the young people can start an independent and fulfilling life with the help of the FSCI team which fully supports the young adults until they leave the flats.

That’s why it is not surprising that DMS DOM is one of the most popular text messages received by the number 17777 and the House of Opportunity Programme is also one of the campaigns with the highest number of regular donors for 2016. This is thanks to the support of VIVACOM and their campaign Operation “Yellow Coins”, which has supported the House of Opportunity Programme for the last three years.

Within the framework of the campaign, FSCI and VIVACOM managed to raiseover BGN 170 000 in the form of financial resources, products and volunteers to support the programme.

With the financial support two new Houses were opened – in Sofia and Varna, which provide five places for young adults who have left social institutions.

Thanks to the generosity of the thousands of people who supported the campaign, these young adults along with the other 25 young people across the country are supported by the Foundation and will get a chance for a fresh start in life.

Young people, who have been raised in institutions without parental care, were given the opportunity to gain essential financial knowledge.

The education is part of the combined project “Adopt a house” between The Foundation for Social Change and Inclusion (FSCI) and Experian – the global leader in information supply, analytical decisions and marketing.

Twenty-five current residents of the House of Opportunity Programme, as well as former residents and vulnerable young people from different social institutions, took part in the training in Sofia. The interactive training, which aims to raise the financial awareness of the young people, was led by volunteers of Experian and some of the questions that were discussed were: when is it good to get loans; why do people get loans; who is eligible for a loan; what credit accounts exist and what are the conditions of getting one. The following topics were discussed in detail: interest rates, credit fees, credit cards, monthly interest as well as monthly installments.

Special attention was paid to different marketing techniques, which are often used to attract more customers. The staff explained what the meaning is of interest free rate for the first 3 months, credit and debit cards, quick money withdrawals, personal data, savings accounts, the difference between banks and financial institutions which are not banks.

The young people were given the chance to become bankers who needed to decide which of the clients are trustworthy to receive a loan, based on their history.

There were plenty of discussions at the end and some of the young adults shared their personal experience with various financial institutions.

“Adopt a house” project

This project is the first joint project between Experian, a global information services group and the non governmental organization Foundation for Social Change and Inclusion.

Experian is getting involved by financing one House of Opportunity, which is a small group home for young adults, who have grew up in institutions. Thanks to the joint initiative, the Foundation will be able to partially cover the running costs of the first House of Opportunity in Sofia for a period of one year. This initiative will help support six young adults; it will also pay for two training sessions for 30 beneficiaries from vulnerable backgrounds.

In addition to this financial support, the Foundation, which has been working with young care leavers since 2008, will rely on its partnership with Experian in the form of mentoring and volunteering.

The House of Opportunity network, managed by FSCI, not only provides young people with a place to live after they leave the institution, but also gives them invaluable support by helping them to look for jobs, to develop social and working skills as well as any additional skills to cope with real life.

FSCI is responsible for a network of five Houses across the country- Varna,Burgas,Ruse and Sofia (Druzhba and Lyulin).

More than 130 young adults have been benefited over the years form the House of Opportunity Programme, which started in 2008. Out of all 130, 63% have started work, 27% have kept their work for more than six months, 74% have improved their social skills, 25% have improved their level of education, 60% have built up positive relationships with members of the local community thanks to the programme, 78% have a place of their own to live after the programme, 100 % have preserved or improved their health.

You can get involved too! The information is on our FSCI website or you can email us at office@fcibulgaria.org or call the FSCI team on +359 878 664851.