SOS Children’s Villages Greece
Founded in 1975, SOS Children’s Villages Greece is part of an international network operating in over 130 countries and territories. SOS Children’s Villages cares for orphaned, abandoned, or neglected children through home-based care centres.
Since the financial crisis, SOS Greece expanded its activities to support affected families, including the establishment of support centres in Athens and regional Greece. SOS Greece currently operates 4 children’s villages, 2 youth homes, 2 infant homes, 10 social centres and 6 learning and education centres.
The SOS Social Centre in Patras, established in 2017, supports local families facing economic hardship and unemployment. In March 2019, SOS expanded this facility to include a Learning and Education Centre to help families support their children’s educational progress.
The Patras centre runs programs led by qualified educators and counselors, helping children meet school curriculum requirements and develop psychosocial skills in a safe environment. Children also receive hot meals and snacks daily.
The program also supports parents in pursuing job and vocational training opportunities and offers counselling to help them support their child’s progress.
Each academic year, up to 2,000 children aged 8 to 17 from local communities, along with up to 1,500 parents, benefit from the outstanding support provided at the SOS Social Centres. This assistance significantly increases the resilience, psychosocial well-being, and self-esteem of all participants.
THI Australia has been funding the programs of the SOS Education & Learning Centre in Patras since 2019 and the SOS Social Centre in Heraklion, Crete since 2022. This support has benefited 197 children and 144 parents who received counseling support. Additionally, 11,623 hot meals and 7,746 snacks have been provided.
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