Fire affected Community Relief - Mati, Athens

It has been over two years, since the devastating fires in Mati caused destruction and loss of life.
The main goals of my team have been achieved thanks to the general donations from the amazing GlobalGiving donors that were collected. All of us here in Emfasis, faced a lot of challenges. Nevertheless, the funds allowed us to employ two social scientists so they could dedicate themselves and complete important workshops of self-improvement, document issuing, counseling and financial issues.
More specifically, 66 residents of Mati were supported by Emfasis streetworkers and provided them with social support and material goods based on people’s needs, such as: survival goods, long life food items, basic clothing & hygiene kits, specialized medical accessories, such as walkers, oxygen tanks, first aid items, second hand mobile phones so they could stay in touch, transport facilitation via hired taxis.

The weekly meetings we had with them appeared to be to extremely valuable and helped us to listen, understand and be in contact with their everyday concerns, which led to targeted and beneficial actions based on our communication.

Emfasis, focused these years on self-enhancement matters to maintain an environment of trust and gradually support the affected people get back to their normal routines with dignity.

Some challenges still exist due to governmental issues but Emfasis accomplished to reach most of its goals and always stand beside people in need.

Over a year ago, the devastating fires in Mati, destroyed several properties and left the people of the area hopeless and in search of a better future. Emfasis always present and standing beside the people in need, stood there with the people, listening to their needs and addressing the issues that occurred from day one.

The employment of two social scientists of the affected area gave us a helpful insight on the situation and showed us ways to ease their pain. Normality is gradually restored, with people gaining their dignity back again moving towards a better built future. We conducted several workshops during this period with multiple topics, work related, self-improvement, wellness based always on their needs and demands.

Life in camps is still a challenge for all of them, however the community has created strong bonds, supporting each other. The long procedure of reissuing their paperwork has almost been completed, with our assistance, and people start to take the social benefits they deserve. Our weekly based meetings with them, have created a strong established relationship between us, which allows us to see through their sayings and address their needs more effectively.

Our goal is to continue our presence to the affected area until the wounds are healed, and people get back to their everyday routines normally. During this period, we have learnt valuable lessons through their experiences and have grown with them, on a journey to self-understanding through challenging times.