CAIS - ASSOCIACAO DE SOLIDARIEDADE SOCIAL

description of organisation

CAIS is a non-profit social solidarity organization born in 1994, with a central project of inclusion, offering marginalized people a means of reintegration through work –the CAIS Street Paper, inspired by the English The Big Issue, as a strategy for social intervention for training and participation of citizens who are excluded or at risk of social exclusion.

The mission of this Association - CAIS - is to contribute to the overall improvement of the living conditions of socially and economically vulnerable people, in a situation of deprivation, exclusion, and risk.

As so, all over the years, CAIS understood that more than offering just a street paper for users to sell on the streets, CAIS wants to promote the social integration of people living in/or at risk of poverty and/or social exclusion, through training methodologies for empowerment and/or integration in the labor market, helping them regain self-esteem, life skills and their rightful place in society. For that, another goal is to maintain old and promote new partnerships with businesses, other for-profit and non-profit national and international organizations promoting social responsibility through employability, creating and participating in networks of knowledge sharing, innovation, and entrepreneurship; At last, promoting reflection and identification of social solutions which are appropriate and fair to those most in need, involving local communities and civil society, in favor of a society which is closer and promotes justice and solidarity, is another one.

CAIS MICRO BUSINESSES
CAIS STREET PAPER _ CAIS first Project emerges in 1994, it is a monthly publication supported by different patrons, with total editorial independence and affirming itself as an instrument of income and dignity of citizens involved in a process of social integration

CAIS RECICLA - In May 2011 this micro-business was set up. CAIS Recicla, with the support of Unicer (a beverage company).
Concentrating on the development of eco-design (notebooks, pen and pencil bags, pencils, etc.) with waste material disposed of by various companies. In 2015 CAIS Recicla won the “Product or Service” category in the Green Project Awards and was a finalist of the INSP Awards in the category of non-magazine project.

CAIS BUY@WORK - A convenience shopping service (supermarket, pharmacy, laundry, etc.) intended for employees of joining companies
(Astellas; BP; Jaba Recordati; MSD; Pfizer; PHC; Zoetis) was born in September 2012 with the support of founding company Merck Sharp & Dohme (MSD).
CAIS WORK GRANT -Integrated into the CAHO project (Capacitar Hoje) - Empower Today, the CAIS Work Grant, is the third phase of the training and employability pathway developed by CAIS. Profiles of trained users and the needs of partner companies are cross-referenced creating new job opportunities.

CAIS CENTERS SOCIAL ANSWERS– psycho-social care and counseling
• Psychosocial Monitoring/ Psychological Intervention
• Legal Support
• Program of educational and occupational activities
• Program of employment path: Bootcamp
• Support Areas

Educational (users can join a circuit that is individually designed and tailored to suit their needs and potentials, developed with CAIS volunteers)
• IT
• English
• Portuguese for Foreigners
• Literacy
• English
• Maths

Occupational (activities which allow for personal development, imaginative and artistic potential of beneficiaries, developed with CAIS volunteers)
• Street Football
• Reporters on the Streets
• Visual Arts
• Relaxation

Bootcamp (Program of training and employability which has as its central goal, decreasing the number of people at risk and exclusion, promoting their empowerment and integration into the labor market)
• Vocational Training: Bootcamp
• Professional Integration.

Support Areas
• Soup Kitchen
• Social Restaurant
• FEAD
• Laundry
• Personal Hygiene

PROJETO ABRIGO (PROJECT SHELTER)
Projecto Abrigo is a sponsorship protocol that brings together companies who want to make CAIS Association their social project.
Since 2003, the concept of Corporate Social Responsibility in which more and more companies tend to incorporate social and eco-friendly objectives in their activity, combining their economic success with a benefit to society and the environment. Project Shelter aims to be part of the social purpose of these companies, those who want to integrate social concerns in their business activity on a voluntary basis, assuming a role of greater importance in the maintenance of all activity of the association, through a 2 year (2015-2017) commitment.
A commitment where the objectives and obligations are clearly presented for each part. Projeto ABRIGO involves nowadays about 20 companies.