SOS Children’s Villages is an international organization founded in 1949 in Tirolo, Aystria, by Herman Gmeiner, with a vision to ensure that every child grows up in a safe family environment. The organization assists families in remaining unified and provides children who, for serious reasons must separate from their biological families, with alternative care models, either through foster families or, for as long as needed, through a place in one of the SOS Children’s Villages. Today, SOS Children’s Villages maintain presence in 136 countries, helping thousands of children through alternative care and prevention programmes, schools, Health Centers and other services that target local communities.
In Greece, 4 SOS Children’s Villages, 2 Youth Houses, 2 SOS Babies’ Homes, 10 Social Support Centers and 5 Learning Support Centers operate today. At the same time, and since 2017, SOS Children’s Villages support the family rehabilitation of children hosted across shelters in Greece and promote systemic change within the country’s child protection sector through its “Support to Child Protection Structures” Programme, which focuses on training professional on adoption procedures and on supporting children in out-of-family care across State-run child protection structures in Greece.
The International Association of SOS Children’s Villages is a regular interlocutor and partner at a global and national level, in the EU and its member states as well as in international initiatives and collaborations, including the “Opening Doors for Europe” campaign.
Baby Care and Adoption Programme
The programme, which in 2021 will be implemented with the support of MATILDA Foundation, focuses on a major child protection need, namely, on one hand the care of infants and young children that have been either abandoned or separated from their families following abuse and, on the other hand, their immediate placement in a family environment through foster-care or adoption. The children receive care and support at the SOS Baby Shelter in Marousi and through the Infant Hospitality Programme implemented in collaboration with Penteli’s Hospital. The two shelters have a capacity to host 32 infants and young children, while each year, they care for and facilitate adoption for an average 60 children.