S IMMO AG continues support for Caritas projects in 2016

In line with the motto “providing shelter”, the listed company S IMMO AG has been supporting Caritas projects in Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria since 2008. This collaboration will continue in 2016 as well. The S IMMO team also supports one Caritas facility every year through a corporate volunteering project. The facility in 2015 was the “Zweite Gruft”, which offers homeless persons a day centre, social counselling, emergency lodging, and a short-term residential project.

“We primarily select projects in regions where we also do business. We especially value long-term collaboration, because that allows us to make lasting changes for the better,” explains Friedrich Wachernig, Management Board member at S IMMO AG.

The Caritas projects in detail:

Hope House in Romania

Caritas has been operating four Hope Houses for orphaned children and youths in the Romanian city of Alba Iulia since 2000. The goal of the project is to offer young people a safe home and positive prospects for the future as well as to support them in their integration into society. In addition, a counselling centre was founded in 2010 that accompanies young people along their path to independence. A professional team of psychologists and social workers help them to find work and a permanent place to live, and also assist with official business as well as legal and psychological matters.

A future for children in Hungary

Another project supported by S IMMO AG is a community centre in the Hungarian city of Esztergom that has been operated by Caritas since 2002. The goal of the project is to improve the living conditions and future prospects of Romani children through education. In total, the centre serves around 90 children and youths along with their families. The centre concentrates on helping young people to complete their schooling.

Ageing with dignity in Bulgaria

Roughly 90% of the inhabitants of the Bulgarian village of Pokrovan are over the age of 70. There is no city nearby, and the village is completely isolated in the winter. The majority of the residents lives alone and has to get by on very small minimum pensions that often not even cover the barest necessities. For this reason, Caritas operates a day centre and a soup kitchen in this village and arranges medical care for the elderly population, all with the support of S IMMO. Mobile teams also provide assistance to ill or bedridden persons.