One of EMFASIS’ permanent goals is the continuous training of its volunteers, given that they are the organization’s backbone. Our volunteers, having offered 18.000 hours of everyday support, manage to organize, coordinate and accomplish tirelessly all EMFASIS programs in favor of our fellow humans in need. Every day, they search for new supporting ways, by finding out and covering the increasing needs of people on the streets.

Within that framework, EMFASIS organized in Athens, for second consecutive year, a weekend experiential-educational seminar, on 6-7 February. Its topic was “Street Work: theory and practices for the modern Social Phenomena”, and the instructors were Don Irving and Simon Whitmore, members of the UK Federation of Detached Youth. Participation has been impressive, as more than 40 persons from different institutions and organizations joined the seminar. The main discussion subject concerned the development of knowledge and skills necessary for social street work, while high emphasis was given on the need for collaboration and exchange of knowledge and methods among the Street work teams in Greece and abroad. A great photography portfolio from this event is shown right here.

On the 10th of March, in partnership with the organization Social Erasmus Greece (ESN), EMFASIS presented to volunteer students from every country, the approach methods of vulnerable groups through the street work practices. After the seminar, the students applied the knowledge and ideas developed, on the streets during an evening street work shift.

During the first week of April, the ALBA Executive Development department, in collaboration with SOCIALAB, organized the Digital Marketing program for NGOs, offered for free to NGO communication officers and volunteers engaged with NGOs communication. Our volunteer Iosifina Grivea was lucky to attend it and enrich her background knowledge on this topic, thus she applied these lessons on EMFASIS communication needs.
In late April, EMFASIS was privileged to have, for the first time in Athens, Alex Sporidou, deputy CEO at the Young People’s Support Foundation in Manchester (www.ypsf.co.uk), leading a seminar on “Supporting young people towards independent living”, with free and confidential advice on homelessness, training, education, employment and other issues amidst the Refugee Crisis. It was attended by the EMFASIS teams of social scientists and volunteers as well by selected partners.

Some days later, on May the 6th, we were delighted to host about 40 Psychology students from Tilburg University (Netherlands), who were interested in the phenomenon of homelessness in Greece, its effects and countermeasures. They attended an Emfasis Foundation seminar aiming at the exchange of opinions, knowledge and questionings,followed by combined shift street work, providing food and survival kits to our fellow human in need.Ongoing educational activities and trainings are always in Emfasis’ schedules, in order to provide to anyone interested, the possibility to develop their voluntary spirit and abilities. Emfasis constantly searches to tighten its bonds with other foundations and broaden its volunteers’ horizons at the same time, through this comes the meaning of supporting others.