JRS Greece is part of Jesuit Refugee Service (JRS), an international Catholic organization with a mission to accompany, serve, and advocate for the rights of refugees and others who are forcibly displaced.
JRS programs are found in 50 countries, providing assistance to refugees in camps and cities, individuals displaced within their own countries, asylum seekers in cities, and to those held in detention centres. JRS Greece was set up in November 2015 and its action is focused on vulnerable people.
Since the beginning of the refugee crisis in our country in 2015 until today, the number of those served has exceeded 5,500 people.
In an effort to promote the social inclusion and integration of refugees and other forced migrants in Greece, JRS Hellas engages in projects that support people from the moment of first arrival and accompanies them in a process toward self-sufficiency and full participation in their new home societies, such as:
–Pedro Arrupe Youth Center: it focuses on facilitating the integration of immigrant children, asylum seekers, refugees and disadvantaged Greeks into the Greek education system through a complementary after-school guidance program and collaborative intercultural activities. It also provides food once a month to the most vulnerable families and a hot meal to 15 children every day.
-The Hub Community: run by JRS Greece, it is a place where asylum seekers and refugees can come and participate in different projects and activities.
–Magistories: run at JRS Hub Community, it is a non-formal education project for refugees, asylum seekers and migrants. To make Magistories a reality, JRS Greece partnered with the NGO Libraries Without Borders (Bibliothéques Sans Frontières) and their program Ideas Box. In Magistories the people can experience the values of hospitality and compassion through the gift of education and sharing of knowledge. Through this project, people can learn and be more involved in Greek culture and the European way of life, while discovering the value of each culture and building bridges among different nations.
–Women’s Day Center: it provides a family environment for refugee women, asylum seekers, migrants and their children, with the purpose of social inclusion, autonomy, personal empowerment and skills development focusing on employability. It includes laundry services, showers, activities and psychosocial support. It also provides primary health care in collaboration with other organizations.
-The Food Basket: it benefits 30 families a month with food that aims to meet their nutritional needs for the entire month. Food Basket focuses on the most vulnerable families who participate in both JRS Greece programs as well as families who reach us through referrals from other organizations.
Other activities:
–JRS Advocacy – An integral part of the work of JRS, both nationally and internationally, is advocacy for the rights of refugees, so as to share their voices and provide them better services and a more dignified life. In order to achieve these goals, JRS Greece participates in meetings with other representatives of the central and local government and EU agencies, NGOs and institutions. JRS Greece also works together with other JRS offices, as a network, to analyze relevant issues and policies as they arise, in addition to identifying problems and formulating common positions and recommendations for change.
-Many asylum seekers and refugees arrived in Athens with little to no personal possessions. With the desire to dignify all vulnerable people, JRS Magazi is a free basic goods store, where migrants, refugees, asylum seekers and disadvantaged Greek neighbors can obtain free clothes, household goods, toys for kids and hygiene products.
–JRS Greece organizes creative activities and games for refugees/ asylum seekers/ migrant children in squares of Athens three times per week, while offering them snacks and fruit juice. The purpose of these activities is for them to spend some quality time through the games but also to learn simple rules of social behavior. Parents are also informed about JRS Greece’s projects in case they need any kind of help.