AVENIR – Career Prospects for Refugees

AVENIR is a social and not-for-profit enterprise championing better education and employment for refugees in and around Berlin. Fleeing war in their home countries, these newcomers face barriers and discrimination as job seekers. The result is financial hardship and societal exclusion.

This is where Avenir intervenes. By offering temporary employment, support and training opportunities, we facilitate financial independence and career pathways for refugees.

This is also in the interest of companies in Germany, who often struggle to fill vacancies.

Avenir means ‘future’ in French and accordingly, as a not-for-profit organisation our earnings fund newcomers’ prospective training too. The professional self-realisation of refugees are at the heart of our employment service.

Although AVENIR wants to support many more newcomers in the future, the aim of this campaign is to secure the continuation of the support of our first five participants, in order to make sure they are fully prepared for a regular employment in a company in Germany.

In the future we will continuously offer more and more places to newcomers, who are looking for access into the labour market. This is even more important now, as the numbers of newcomers who are finishing their legally required integrations courses are on the rise. Now it is the time to support them with finding professional fulfilment.

Target group of our project are especially those newcomers, whose qualifications are not formerly documented or acknowledged and for whom a proper vocational training (lasting three years in Germany) or studying is not suitable.

In order to realise our aim this campaign addresses all individuals, organisations and companies who want to defend the idea that work matters and that professional fulfilment is a central component of social participation. And that this is of course true for every human being.

With your contribution you are directly supporting five newcomers in getting better access to the labour market. Being in work is important for properly settling in a new country, because it is a key component of social participation and integration.

Together with the participants AVENIR takes the first hurdles on the way to getting access to the labour market. During the 12 months with AVENIR newcomers not only gather important work experience but also get the opportunity to improve or formalise their qualifications. During this time they are continuously being provided with offers for professional orientation and mentoring, with the aim of being employed permanently in a field that suits the preferences and capacities of the supported newcomers.

Additionally, direct contact with the perceived Other is the best way for people to reduce their prejudices. This works best where people spent most of their (awake) time: at work! In this way, AVENIR also supports long-time locals with prejudices against refugees with integrating into the multicultural reality.

In case our funding aim is reached, the newcomers supported by AVENIR will benefit directly from the total amount received.

As we have already secured the funding of a testing phase for our project, the money gained through this campaign will be fully used to cover training and salary costs for our first five supported newcomers during the period following the testing phase.

If the funding goal is met, this will suffice for covering at least the salary costs for two more months. After this the salary costs can be financed directly through the temporary work itself, so that the supported newcomers can actually finish our whole programme of 12 months! The following rational is the basis of the funding aim:

€ 1,345 Salaray
+ € 155 Training budget
= € 1,500.

€ 1,500 x Participants x 2 Months = € 15.000.

The actual usage of the funds, however, will of course be primarily determined by the specifications in the rewards. We will have to fill remaining gaps with existing funds. Hence we are extra grateful for free donations.

In case you wonder how we pay for the rewards: Those are mainly sponsored, and remaining costs will be covered from existing funds so that every Euro received by us through this campaign can go directly into the support of the participants.