Public Relations Committee grant competition
On 29th November 2016, the winners of the grant competition held by Moscow’s Public Relations Committee were announced. Our Centre took part in the competition for the first time and was one of the winners.
Our competition project was “Skills for life: the social adaptation of orphans”.
What is our project about?
For over 15 years the Step Up Centre has been working with students from orphanages and residential institutions. One of the problems that is central to the integration of young people into an unfamiliar society is the long, complex process of socialisation.
Moving into a new home, graduates are faced not only with domestic issues- furnishing their home, cooking, paying bills – but also with the problem of providing for themselves and finding work. This stage is undoubtedly the most complex stage in life – current education does not allow students to find a good job that fits in with their ambitions and ideas of what constitutes a “good life”.
Understanding this problem, many students, while still members of orphanages, come to the Step Up Centre on the recommendation of friends or social workers. They participate in the Centre’s programmes which help them to get support in education and finding work.
Our experience shows that education and increasing students’ cultural awareness is crucial to the process of socialisation. The main thing is that students see that they have a choice – and by coming to learn in our Centre, each of them indeed makes their own choice.
This grant will help us to develop our programmes and to help even more students who need it at the start of their journey into adulthood. We hope that we will be able to fulfil all of our plans.
