Who we help

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At the SOS Social Centres, priority is given to people whose circumstances are particularly difficult, including single mothers, displaced families and families living below the poverty line. Support is also available for children and young people in trouble. Helping women and children at SOS Social Centre Challapata (Bolivia) - Photo: H. Müller Single mums and families in need In the context of help to self-help, the SOS Social Centres cater first and foremost for women, who along with children, count among the first victims of poverty. Outside of Europe, the social centres seek primarily to serve the most vulnerable: children, women, displaced and poor families. This support is vital, particularly in parts of the world where children are abandoned for economic reasons or lack of social support, and access to health and education services is limited. Families affected by HIV/AIDS In southern Africa, SOS Social Centres (and other SOS Children's Village facilities) are co-ordinating pilot projects, which are committed to supporting HIV/AIDS affected and infected children and families in their natural environment. These outreach programmes assist affected families in the neighbourhood by organising social worker and volunteer visits; providing housing, clothing, nutrition, medical care; psycho-social support and covering school fees. Climbing trees at SOS Transit Home Altmünster (Austria) - Photo: SOS Archives Children left to their own devices As another main target group, the SOS Social Centres run programmes for children and youngsters who are experiencing difficulties in life, who come from broken homes, institutions and children's homes, as well as street children. Street children's facilities take care of street children aged five and upwards. The children and youngsters are offered food and shelter, schooling and vocational training as well as general support in terms of personal orientation in life. For young children between one and six years old, SOS Children's Villages also provides temporary facilities where they can be placed by the child welfare authority for a limited period of time, usually just a few months. After that they are either returned to their own families, taken into care by the welfare authorities or, where possible, found a place in an SOS Children's Village. Special facilities are also available for the care and support of physically and mentally challenged children and young people. Young people in Europe Slightly different in design and focus, the child and youth care services provided by the SOS Social Centres in Europe are targeted primarily at youngsters with problems of deviant behaviour, those who have fallen through the welfare net and unemployed young people aged between sixteen and twenty. Supervised accommodation is provided to cater for their special needs. Similarly, youth communities with youth worker support are provided for youngsters between the ages of seventeen and twenty-one who still require counselling in order to be able to stand on their own two feet. The SOS Social Centres also run counselling centres that provide therapeutic and counselling programmes for the socially disadvantaged as well as supporting services for other SOS Children's Village facilities.