Lýsing á stofnuninni/samtökunum

Herbie e.V. has been a recognised private agency of child and youth welfare services in Leipzig since 1991. Our main fields of activity include ambulant and stationary help with education, voluntary services and the sponsorship of day care centres. We currently employ a total of 180 qualified personnel. We support and advise children, young people and their families with our wide range of services. We are a member of the “Deutscher Paritätischer Wohlfahrtsverband”. Furthermore, we work in various socio-educational working groups and are networked with other voluntary service organisations.
Based on the principle of "help for self-help", we focus our daily work on identifying, activating and using existing resources of people and systems. The motivation to find individual solutions is the focus of our work. Our holistic actions in the sense of a lifeworld-oriented child and youth welfare service are derived from the humanistic view of man. It is characterised by respect for all ways of living and aims at social justice, participation and co-determination.

We would be pleased if future volunteers would also represent our mission statement and bring the following to the volunteer service:
- Motivation
- Desire for learning and new experiences
- Interest in other people
- Empathy
- Intercultural skills
- Openness towards other socialisation backgrounds and world views
- Wish for exchange and further development of their own personality

European volunteers can get involved in the following areas of our association:

Day care centre "Rosentalzwerge":
This day care centre is located in the immediate vicinity of Leipzig's city centre directly at the beautiful park "Rosental" and currently offers space for 141 children aged 0 to 6 years. The special feature of this day care centre is its proximity to nature. Thus, the "nature children's group" spends every day outside and explores and researches the changes in nature throughout the year. But all other children also take part in "forest days" and excursions.
It´s an essential part of the organisations core values, that we take the needs and personality of the children into account and the children's lives are shaped in accordance with their environment. The participation of the children in shaping everyday life and in democratic processes is of great importance.

Day care centre “Joseph Haydn":
The day care centre is centrally located near the Clara-Zetkin-Park and the alluvial forest. As an integrative day care centre, it offers space for 77 children between 0 and 6 years of age with and without disabilities. A special feature is the musical profile of the day care centre. The daily routine is accompanied by a wide range of musical activities. For early musical education there is close cooperation with the music school and the older children take part in music lessons at the music academy.
Due to the proximity to the park and the forest, the experience of nature and the fun of movement also play a important role in the children's everyday life. During the weekly park and forest days, the children develop an understanding of natural phenomena and a conscious approach to nature and its resources.

Day care centre "Gohliser Höfe":
The "Gohliser Höfe" day care centre, which opened in 2020, is located in the middle of the old industrial site of the former world market leader for cable cars - the Bleichert factories. The day care centre has room for 90 children from the age of one year until school entry. Due to the natural science-oriented profile this day care centre creates a stimulating environment that invites them to experiment, research and discover. In this way, the children can develop their creativity and pursue their natural exploratory urge.
The proximity to the park also enables the children to discover and explore nature and observe changes. A conscious approach to nature and its resources should also be important.

Supervised group home:
Currently six kids with different backgrounds and reasons for their stay live in our supervised group home. They stay for an undetermined period either until they move back in with their parents or they start the process of independent living starting at age 16. Social workers and child care workers take care of the children in a similar structure to a family’s. The focus of our work is a daily routine and structure as well as using the children's spare time for recreational activities. The intensive work with the children's parents is an important part of our work.
The most important goals for our help process with the kids is to integrate them into a close-by- school system and preparing them for independent living. We want to be a safe space for the children so to help them in their self-development and offer them ways to experience their self-efficacy. For the kids coping with crisis and acquiring an approach to conflicts is a daily excercise/challenge.

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Deutsche Version

Herbie e.V. ist seit 1991 ein anerkannter freier Träger der Kinder- und Jugendhilfe in Leipzig. Unsere Hauptarbeitsfelder sind unter anderem ambulante und stationäre Hilfen zur Erziehung, Freiwilligendienste sowie die Trägerschaft von Kindertagesstätten. Insgesamt beschäftigen wir derzeit 180 Mitarbeiter*innen. Mit unseren vielfältigen Angeboten unterstützen und beraten wir Kinder, Jugendliche und ihre Familien. Wir sind Mitglied im Deutschen Paritätischen Wohlfahrtsverband.
Des Weiteren arbeiten wir in diversen sozialpädagogischen Arbeitskreisen und sind mit anderen Freiwilligendienstträgern vernetzt. Dies dient dem Erfahrungs- und Informationsaustausch, der Förderung der Zusammenarbeit, der Qualitätssicherung und letztendlich auch der gemeinsamen übergreifenden Arbeit, z.B. auf politischer Ebene.
In Anlehnung an den Grundsatz „Hilfe zur Selbsthilfe“, orientieren wir uns in der täglichen Arbeit auf das Erkennen, Aktivieren und Nutzen vorhandener Ressourcen von Menschen und Systemen. Dabei steht die Motivation zum Finden eigener Lösungswege im Mittelpunkt unserer Arbeit.
Unser ganzheitliches Handeln im Sinne einer lebensweltorientierten Kinder- und Jugendhilfe leitet sich aus dem humanistischen Menschenbild ab. Es ist geprägt von Respekt gegenüber jeder Art von Lebensentwürfen und zielt auf soziale Gerechtigkeit, Partizipation und Mitbestimmung ab.
Wir würden uns freuen, wenn zukünftige Freiwillige unser Leitbild ebenso vertreten und darüber hinaus Folgendes in den Freiwilligendienst mitbringt:
• Motivation
• Lust am Lernen und an neuen Erfahrungen
• Interesse an anderen Menschen
• Einfühlungsvermögen
• Interkulturelle Kompetenzen
• Offenheit gegenüber anderen Sozialisationshintergründen und Weltanschauungen
• Lust auf Austausch und Weiterentwicklung der eigenen Persönlichkeit