| The city of Görlitz is on the German-Polish border. As a cultural city with buildings from several centuries it has an important European significance. However, lots of people, especially young people, leave the city in the search of work and new perspectives. Görlitz has a problem with an over-ageing population. With the close proximity to Poland, the number of immigrants is greatly increasing and there are many German-Polish families settling in the city. However, only a few of these families are integrated in the city life. Worries about finding a job and being accepted in the community mean stress for a partnership, the family and the children, and the result is a high divorce rate, single-parent and patchwork families. |
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Therefore – before the family falls apart – the families need to be made aware of the help they can get in good time. For Caritas in Görlitz this means finding new ways and developing new programmes to help families. A new pilot project, completely different to the counselling projects to date, has been realised with the help of the Auerbach Foundation. With help at an early stage the parents find support and relief in various circumstances and development phases. The programme focuses on education, counselling and inter-relational encounters. To ensure that the needs of the families involved remain the focal point and that integration can take place, these programmes are organised “by parents for parents”. |