European

Voluntary Service in a housing community in La Laguna, Tenerife.

The EVS volunteers will support the housing communitys staff by providing the resident with social and legal information, helping them to search for a job and organizing leisure and educational activities.

What is European Voluntary Service? What are the benefits for the volunteers?
EVS is a program financed by the European Commission that allows young people aged between 18 and 30 to volunteer for a project in another country for up to 1 year. It is almost free: accommodation, food and insurance are covered by the grant. Volunteers also receive a small allowance each month. They only have to pay 10% of the travel cost.

EVS allows to enhance employability, learn new skills and competences, learn another language, gain confidence and independence, contribute to the local host community and to discover another culture.

Description of the coordinating organisation (that supervises the volunteers placements):

Creativa is an association for the promotion of employment and social cohesion. Its aims are to address the problems of unemployment, precarious employment and underemployment, poor access to housing, and other social and environmental problems. In order to do so, Creativa promotes actions that facilitate the social and occupational integration of unemployed people, and a wide range of economic, social and environmental projects.

Description of the placements:

The EVS volunteers will be placed in different housing communities whose residents can be homeless people, migrant children or women victims of violence (only women volunteers). At their arrival, Creativa will provide the EVS volunteers with a comprehensive 40h course in which they will explain the activities undertaken by them during their EVS project. They volunteers will have the following key responsibilities: Theyll help the residents who are able to work to find a job, informing them and helping them throughout their active job search.

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They will provide the residents with information and legal advice related to residence permits, citizens rights, social support available, rights and obligation for their contracts. They will give support in the teaching of English, Spanish or the volunteers native language. They will assist in the organization of various leisure activities. They will also provide basic information to the family about the disease some beneficiaries are suffering from. Volunteers will work 7 hours a day from Monday to Friday. One day of the week will be spent at Creativas Office to evaluate the work done in the past 4 days. The maximum number of EVS volunteers will be 10 and the minimum 5, with a balance between female and male volunteers.

Volunteers ideal profile:

The ideal volunteers would have a great deal of tact and sensitivity. They would be enthusiastic, friendly and open-minded. They would be keen to be actively involved in the integration of the groups we serve. The residents want to integrate into the society and the vast majority resent their current situation. Sometimes, their personal situation makes them anxious, bitter, depressed and desperate which may lead them to act abruptly. An understanding behavior can help them restore their dignity and lost self-esteem. The volunteers must also have lots of patience, to not always expect ambitious results and propose appropriate and partials goals that suit each residents individual profile. The volunteers would be ideally sensitized to health or drugs problems, and to any other issues that residents might be affected by.

City of La Laguna, Tenerife.

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