Who is this call intended for? If you are between 28 and 80 years old and ready to do 4-8 volunteer work per month in your neighborhood, keep reading…
There are more and more people in our society, especially the elderly, who have almost no one of their own, so it often happens that they experience the end of their earthly life alone and abandoned. In Sarajevo Canton alone, there are 520 people completely dependent on social assistance from the Center for Social Work. That financial support is not enough for them, and they don’t even have a person to talk to who would ask questions for them. Among them are those who, due to fear of bureaucracy or physical impossibility, fail to exercise their basic rights. The project is based on values that are deeply rooted in our mentality. Caring for those in need, the sick, the lonely in our family and in the neighborhood is part of our human and religious heritage, but also our duty.
In the project “Heart for Neighbors in Need“, volunteers will monitor and support individuals or families who have found themselves in a difficult life situation due to the corona crisis, and who, with the financial help of a social institution, need additional human and material support.
Project holder Monastery of St. Ante, in cooperation with donors, companies and other active humanitarian organizations, will provide:
- Psychosocial volunteer support to empower and encourage users;
- Material support in the form of food and hygiene packages;
- Occasional financial support for the purchase of medicines, payment of electricity, water, heating and other necessities.
Beneficiaries of the project can become persons after the established and confirmed contact with the representative from the Social Welfare Service and with the project coordinator.
The project management will
- Reimburse all expenses incurred during the volunteer engagement and
- Lead monitoring meetings together with volunteers and professional associates, continuously improving the project process.
Duties of volunteers
- Get acquainted with the situation, needs and potentials of the beneficiaries at the initial meeting together with a person of psychosocial profession;
- In agreement with the project coordination, ensure that the beneficiary meets priority and existential material needs;
- Support the user in taking measures to provide additional support;
- If necessary, provide support with household chores, filling out forms, writing applications and the like;
- Strictly adhere to the confidentiality of information about the user and his/her situation.
The course of the project “Heart for neighbors in need”:
- Interested volunteers will be invited to an interview on motivation and practical issues. After getting acquainted with the structure and tasks of the project, the volunteer and the coordinator make a decision on participation.
- The first visit to the beneficiary’s home address follows together with the representatives of the Social Welfare Service or the project coordinator.
- Volunteers start regular home visits once to four times a month according to a plan agreed at a meeting with the beneficiary.
- Meetings of volunteers are held once a month with the aim of exchanging experiences and supervising the work.
- The possibility of individual consultation with the coordinator and professional volunteers of the project is offered.
- Volunteers will be offered workshops/lectures for additional training led by experts in psychosocial and humanitarian work.
- At the end of the one-year project cycle, volunteers and partners will be invited to the award ceremony.
The project “Heart for Neighbors in Need” relies on the experiences of the previous way of providing assistance in the Franciscan monastery of St. Ante in Bistrik and other projects of a similar nature, such as “Older brother, older sister“, “Volunteering 60+” and others.
What do you get from volunteering in the Heart for Neighbors in Need project?
- The experience that you have provided life satisfaction to a person on the edge of existence.
- Learning new skills and acquiring knowledge through experiences and various additional education opportunities.
- Broadening your horizons, understanding others and gaining trust in others.
- Connecting with people with similar opinions about solidarity and justice in our society.
- Recognition for volunteering: certificate.
“Do good to others as you would like good to be done to you“, is the golden rule of all religions!
Apply:
- by phone: 061 / 893-000 or
- by email: srcesvante@gmail.com or
- at the Monastery gate, Franjevačka 6 or
- via our online application form
The holder and organizer of the project “Heart for Neighbors in Need” is the Franciscan Monastery of St. Ante in Bistrik in the center of Sarajevo.
Psychosocial, spiritual and material services are available to all people in need regardless of religion, nation, gender, language.
