By Colleen Bromberger | Co-Founder and Co-Director
The Fáilte Centre is celebrating two years of providing education and mental health services to refugees in Athens, Greece. Since July 2022, 174 adults and 49 children have visited the Centre.
In the past year, we have expanded the scope of our programmes to better meet the needs of those we serve. In May, we partnered with Global Connect Courses to offer individuals preparation courses for the U.S. General Education Development (GED) high school diploma exam. Many students participating in the programme are adults who were unable to complete high school due to challenges in their home country. With a GED certificate, these individuals will be able to apply to pursue higher education at universities across Europe and the U.S.
In addition to our regular English sessions, we have begun offering language classes in French, German, Greek, and Spanish. This change was in response to students expressing interest in learning a broader range of languages. Between January and June of 2024, The Fáilte Centre held 181 individual and group language lessons in five different languages.
As we enter our third year of programming, we look forward to continuing to provide vital mental health and psychosocial support to individuals who come to our centre. Our registered social worker offers free, individual mental health sessions to adults experiencing stress, trauma, addiction, among other challenges. These sessions connect people who might otherwise be unable to access mental health support to individualised care. This year, we have conducted more than 475 mental health and psychosocial support activities in the centre’s Safe Space.
The vital support we provide our community is reflected in the number of individuals who continue to come, and return, to our centre. Last year, 98 adults and 24 children came to the centre for classes, mental health support, or simply a safe space to be. On average, we saw 14 of those individuals more than once a month and 2 individuals more than once a week.
After two years of programming, The Fáilte Centre has established itself as a pillar of support for individuals navigating a new country. We are excited to continue our work providing educational programmes and mental health and psychosocial support to all individuals who walk through our doors. With the help of our volunteer and donor community, we look forward to broadening our reach in our third year of service.
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