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The MADE BY project: We return hope to mothers in asylum homes

Prague, 7 April 2014 -- Nadace Terezy Maxové dětem [Tereza Maxová’s Foundation for Children] has long been committed to children and young people in children’s homes and foster families, and also to the prevention of cases where children are forcefully taken away from their biological families. Its priority has always been to help the groups that face the greatest risk. The MADE BY project is the foundation’s next major feat, which has materialised thanks to support provided by Citi Foundation, the global umbrella foundation of the Citi financial group. The project, this time intended for women in asylum homes, is run by Nadace Terezy Maxové dětem.

Asylum homes for mothers with children play an important role in the system of welfare services. They are intended for women unable to deal with a difficult life situation on their own and therefore need help from governmental or non-governmental institutions. Such women include those on maternity leave, women after the collapse of a relationship who cannot pay for their housing because of their financial situation, or victims of domestic violence; thanks to the opportunity to live at an asylum home mothers with children receive the basic facilities and therefore need not be separated. This service therefore operates as important prevention of placing children in children’s homes.

One of the problems that women in asylum homes share is a noticeable shortage of money and, in fact, debts. The key mission of the project is therefore individualised work with women in asylum homes to improve their financial competence. In addition to financial education as such, the project gives the participating mothers a chance to develop important working habits and receive extra income by selling products that they themselves sew, stitch etc. In the pilot year 2013/2014, two asylum homes have joined the project: Azylový dům pro ženy a matky s dětmi o.p.s. [Asylum Home for Women and Mothers with Children, a charity] in Vsetín and Azylový dům pro matky s dětmi [Asylum Home for Mothers with Children] in Osek.

“The issue of financial competence plays a critical role for mothers in asylum homes, because it is the right financial habits that can fundamentally improve these women’s situation and help them become capable of resuming care of their children, and not only in financial terms. Citi Foundation has long been dedicated to enhancing financial competence in society, and therefore the joint project with Nadace Terezy Maxové dětem is a logical continuation of our activities in this area,” adds Michal Nebeský, Citibank’s CEO in the Czech Republic.

The MADE BY project, on the theme of financial competence for mothers and women in asylum homes, was launched in the autumn of 2013 and is now again being offered room to show its results and present its additional activities. As part of the Easter Fair on 3 April 2014, products made by mothers living in the asylum homes that have joined the project were on sale in Citibank’s Prague office building. You can also buy these courageous women’s products directly at the offices of Nadace Terezy Maxové dětem.

“The fundamental mission of your foundation is to make it possible for all children to grow up in families, and our activities therefore also focus on preventing the removal of children from their family environments,” says Terezie Sverdlinová, director of Nadace Terezy Maxové dětem, adding: “In most cases, the reason for living in an asylum home is the family’s bad financial situation, which needs to be addressed consistently.”

Approximately 40 mothers in asylum homes in Vsetín and Most, who are going through several stages of the project for 10 months (from July 2013 to June 2014), were included in the special programme.

The theoretical part takes the form of periodical workshops at which women receive practical tips and advice on what to be wary about, how to defend themselves, how to keep their finance under control and how to tackle their debts.

The theory runs in parallel with the practical part, in which women make various products (key fobs, carpet slippers, dolls with a story etc.), which the foundation – cooperating with its partners – then offers to the public with a view to selling them , thereby earning some extra money for every mum involved. During the year, all women involved in the project sew “their own” doll and attach their own story to it. This therapeutic tool will help them to “write themselves out” of the past injustices and pains through which the family had gone. The subsequent sale of the dolls will make it possible for them to shed their past and start a new life also thanks to their newly acquired knowledge and skills.

The last part of the project entails evaluation. At this stage, each of the cooperating asylum homes will send its evaluation and description of the progress in its work with each of the women.

The MADE BY project constitutes additional help, this time for women in asylum homes, to whom it gives hope of a better life.

Should you be interested in more information about the project, please visit the foundation’s website at www.terezamaxovadetem.cz.