Emmaus (organization)

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Emmaus logo
Abbé Pierre (2005)

Emmaus ( French Emmaüs ) is a movement to fight homelessness and poverty. It was founded in 1949 by Abbé Pierre in France and has been organized worldwide in the umbrella organization Emmaus International since 1969 . This non-governmental organization now consists of 327 groups and communities in 39 countries on four continents. In France, for example, the movement managed around 9,000 social housing in 2007 and is based there on the collaboration of almost 15,000 people.

General

The aim of the Emmaus movement is poverty reduction, it relies on helping people to help themselves . The focus is on people who are homeless, jobless and without hope. Each Emmaus group works independently and decentrally.

Groups recognized by Emmaus International have to act financially autonomously and maintain themselves through donations and the sale of products and services that are produced by the guests in their own "companies" or carried out under the guidance of employees. It is mandatory to forego state subsidies in principle so that the clubs can work largely independently instead of having to obey the rules of the public sector.

By working in the companies of the organizations, the guests learn - mostly manual - skills in order to facilitate the later integration into the labor market and thus into a standard-compliant, middle-class life. A positive side effect of these activities - which are mandatory depending on the facility - is a regular daily routine and the presence of a task, which promotes the social skills of the guests and prevents the feeling of meaninglessness.

The aim of all Emmaus communities is to find a job and an apartment for the people they care for, so that they can live safely and on a relatively steady regular income.

method

swell

Depending on the community or group, different thresholds are offered so that the guests can gradually and gradually settle into the structure of Emmaus and finally adapt more to society.

So that the people to be looked after are not suddenly overwhelmed with rules, obligations and tasks that they cannot cope with due to years of different practice, the adjustment process is usually divided into 3 levels (thresholds):

Low threshold

Low-threshold facilities hardly require guests to adapt and offer emergency care through temporary, but not guaranteed, sleeping and staying options as well as food and clothing. In order to be able to use these offers, one must not take any illegal drugs in the facility , nor drink alcohol, and one must not become violent in the facility, i. H. you have to comply with the fact that the facility is considered a non-violent zone.

Medium threshold

Medium-threshold facilities guarantee a place to sleep, provide food and clothing and offer care by social workers. The requirement for the use of medium-threshold offers is that deadlines are met and work in the facility, such as kitchen work, cleaning and maintenance, is carried out as agreed. In contrast to the low-threshold , the consumption of alcohol and illegal drugs outside the facility is also prohibited here and, after repeated disregard, is punished by a downgrade to the low-threshold offer.

Higher threshold

Higher-threshold facilities offer, in addition to the basic care and guaranteed sleeping and resting places, also a job in an (if available, facility-internal) company. Part of the salary is saved by the facility for the guest and only paid out to him when he leaves the facility, the rest of the salary is paid to the guest as freely usable. Higher-threshold institutions deal in particular with placing guests in the private sector through internships in the private sector, accompanied by social workers. Depending on the financial and personal situation of the guest, he or she already lives in his own accommodation or in accommodation supported by the association during the higher-threshold care. In addition to the requirements for medium-threshold offers, working hours must be adhered to and the financial situation (through debt counseling, etc.) must be regulated yourself; you also have to apply for work regularly yourself. If illegal drugs are used, alcohol is drunk, or if the person being cared for is highly violent, it can be downgraded to the low threshold.

International representation

Austria

This movement is represented in Austria by Emmaus groups in Lilienfeld and Innsbruck . Furthermore, there is an associated association for the integration of socially disadvantaged people in Lower Austria with the Emmaus Community of St. Pölten . Emmaus International does not recognize this association because of the receipt of state subsidies .

Germany

In Germany there are Emmaus communities in Cologne , Krefeld and Sonsbeck . Emmaus Stuttgart is still a regular member, but has been inactive as a living and working project since 2000 (in January 2010 a normal shared apartment of three people).

Switzerland

Marcel Farine

There are eleven Emmaus institutions in Switzerland, namely 7 Emmaus communities (so-called "communautés") and 4 other groups (so-called "amis d'Emmaüs" - "Friends of Emmaus"). All of these eleven autonomous institutions are united in the “Swiss Emmaus Association” (umbrella organization). The seven Emmaus communities in Carouge (GE), Freiburg im Üechtland (FR), Etagnières (VD), La Chaux-de-Fonds (NE), Sion (VS), Rivera (TI) and Bümpliz (BE) operate for financing of their social assistance secondhand goods and grant marginalized people shelter and work. The four other Emmaus groups are located in Bern (the FAIRMED Foundation, which emerged from Leprosy Aid Emmaus Switzerland, Kinderhilfe Emmaus), in Dübendorf (Emmaus Zurich ) and in Boncourt (“Emmaus Jura”). These groups provide humanitarian aid at home and abroad by running their own development aid projects or by financing third-party aid projects. Some of these groups also run secondhand stores to raise funds for their humanitarian work. The first Emmaus institutions in Switzerland were founded in 1956. The reason for this was provided by the lectures held by Abbé Pierre in Geneva and Bern, in which he called for solidarity with people in need. The "Swiss Emmaus Association" is a founding member of EMMAUS-International. The founding meeting of Emmaus-International, based in Alfortville near Paris, took place on 24-26. May 1969 in the presence of Abbé Pierre († 2007) in the National Council Chamber of the Federal Palace in Bern. The Swiss Emmaus Association provided the first President of EMMAUS-International with its then President Marcel Farine .

Emmaus and the Third World

Since the early 1970s, a number of Emmaus groups in Sweden, Italy, Germany and Latin America have expanded the principle of helping people to help themselves into active help for poorer countries in the Third World. Abbé Pierre's expressly non-denominational approach was increasingly politicized. So z. B. the largest Swedish Emmaus group in Björkå to this day predominantly Marxist-oriented liberation movements in the former African colonies. Emmaus Cologne transferred a large part of its income to Emmaus Chile in solidarity after Salvador Allende was overthrown by General Pinochet in 1973 . Emmaus International not only continues to recognize these non-religious groups, but also organizes international meetings (e.g. 2003 in Burkina Faso), the topics of which meanwhile mainly revolve around human rights , the consequences of globalization , migrants and fundamental economic problems.

literature

  • Marcel Farine: Encounters of Hope. Free people from misery. The work of the Emmaus movement , Walter-Verlag, Solothurn 1994. ISBN 3-530-20151-0

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Archive link ( Memento from May 20, 2015 in the Internet Archive )
  2. ↑ Vatican Radio : bums and whores told him about God
  3. ↑ Official website of Emmaüs France: http://www.emmaus-france.org/public/css/quisommesnous/quisommes_intro.png ( Memento from July 6th 2010 in the Internet Archive ) The picture shows u. a. the following information: 4,291 salaries + 3945 compagnons + 6,426 benevoles = 14,662 personnes. (As of December 31, 2008, accessed on July 17, 2010.)
  4. ↑ Within the Emmaus projects, those seeking help are referred to as “guests”, as, according to the Abbé Pierre, this is probably one of the least humiliating terms for people stranded at Emmaus for whatever reason.
  5. ↑ Archive link ( Memento from May 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) emmausbjorka.se: Vad gör vi? [transl .: what are we doing? ] (accessed February 11, 2015)
  6. ^ World Assembly 2003 in Burkina Faso

Web links