Name of the organization: Serve the City
Website: servethecity.pt
Brief description of the organization
Serve the City is a non-profit association officially called “STC Associação Serve the City Portugal”. Currently, there are networks of Serve the City volunteers established or being implemented in Coimbra, Lisbon, Oeiras and Porto.
Serve the City is volunteering-service to / with people in the City, especially when they are socially most vulnerable – children and young people with HIV-AIDS or other health problems, isolated elderly people, homeless or homeless men and women, marginalized young people, drug addicts, ill-suited immigrants, refugees, low-income families, etc.
Problem addressed by the good practice
Through this good practice, Serve the City’s goal was to contribute with volunteers who bring the spirit of service to the City, of meeting and change. They meet socially fragile people, acting on the themes of exclusion, the homeless person, the isolated elderly person, children and young people in situations of greater vulnerability, the immigrant or refugee, etc.
Target groups
The target group is everyone within the community from different backgrounds and cultures.
Summary of the good practice
Every 15 days, the Serve the City’s team and the volunteers have served a dinner where everyone is welcome. Served as in a restaurant, about 130 volunteers and 170 people in situations of social fragility have dinner side by side, sharing the meal and life.
Evaluation
All dinners can be considered as successful. They received a positive evaluation by the participants and the team plans to continue implementing them.
Recommendations
Serve the City recommends others to do similar activities, such as community dinners, inviting various people, cultures, and on them, everyone to be welcome.
Resources
More information about the Jantares Comunitários project is available on the organization’s website.