The Municipality of Chania, with its work “Social Laundry”, emerged as a big winner in the category “Human Rights” at the Pan-European Awards for Innovation in Politics, after the vote of 1032 citizens from all over Europe.
The announcement of the result for the winning project in the category Human Rights, took place today, January 18, 2022, in Strasbourg and the Municipality of Chania emerged first in the selection of citizens, having in front of it very interesting projects from Austria, Bulgaria, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Switzerland, Sweden, Poland and Lithuania.
The Municipality of Chania started the operation of the first Social Laundry in Greece in March 2021 as a structure of holistic hygiene care. The structure provides its services completely free of charge, with beneficiaries the vulnerable social groups, homeless, Roma and beneficiaries of social programs (KEA, TEVA, Social Grocery) and those who meet the conditions, based on the criteria of the Social Service. The aim is to serve vulnerable citizens – citizens of Chania who either have trouble accessing basic facilities, such as electricity or water, or have no household goods.
Facilities include: community baths for personal hygiene, washing machines and dryers for cleaning and drying their clothes, municipal wardrobe for free supply of clothing, footwear and linen. There is also access to PC and TV and connection to housing, catering, psychological support and counseling services.
During the first four months of operation, the Social Laundry served (1,055) one thousand fifty-five beneficiaries in total. Four hundred and seventy-eight (478) people in the laundry / dryer supply, five hundred and forty three (543) people took care of their personal hygiene and three hundred and fifty four (354) people received free clothes and / or linen from the wardrobe. Clean clothes and personal hygiene are not only a key component of health, but also a symbol of care and quality of life – concepts to which we are all entitled.
The project was implemented with the assistance of the International Organization for Migration, through the REFRAME program.
The Deputy Mayor of Social Policy, Eleni Zervoudaki, points out: “We are very proud that our Municipality is awarded for the structure of the Municipal Social Laundry, a project which we designed and delivered about a year ago to the society of Chania. In collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the Reframe program, we implemented this important social structure, which was missing from our Municipality and is addressed to socially vulnerable groups. I thank from the bottom of my heart all those who contributed both with donations and with work in the implementation of this project. Rewarding our efforts is an additional incentive to continue, guided by the person and his needs “.
“It is with great pleasure that we see a Greek project stand out for the first time as a winner of the Pan-European Awards for Innovation in Politics. The competition is getting bigger every year, with very remarkable and innovative projects from all over Europe. It is therefore particularly hopeful that there are Greek elected officials who are rewarded for making bold decisions, changing for the better the daily life of their citizens “, commented Dimitris Roulias, representative of the Institute for Policy Innovation in Greece and CEO of the Company and Communication Out of the Box.
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About the Innovation Awards in Politics
The Policy Innovation Awards recognize the most courageous and creative policy projects in Europe. The aim of the competition is to identify and highlight the brilliant cases of European politicians and to present the solutions they have implemented to others, beyond borders and parties, as a source of inspiration and an example for similar action. 5,000 Europeans chose 42 winners from over 2,000 political projects. The initiators of the awards are the Institute for Policy Innovation, a company whose mission is to identify, develop and implement policy innovation in order to strengthen democracy in Europe and beyond.
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