From August 2021, the PULSE Foundation is a partner of the Municipality of Pernik in the project "Together for good change - an integrated approach for socio-economic integration in the Municipality of Pernik" for the provision of integrated social and health services in the community.
The main goal of the project is to create an effective and innovative model for sustainable socio-economic integration of people from vulnerable groups in the territory of Pernik Municipality, aimed at increasing the quality of life, reducing poverty and stopping the transmission of poverty through generations.
The project brings a positive change in terms of ensuring effective equality and social integration of people from minority groups, including a number of activities for permanent integration in the labor market, prevention of school dropout, creation of an integrated social and health service, as well as laying of targeted efforts in terms of overcoming negative stereotypes towards the Roma community and promoting the cultural identity of the Roma as a full-fledged part of the civil society in Pernik and in Bulgaria.
Guided by the values and principles of a democratic society and in particular the principle of equality and non-discrimination, as well as international standards in the field of human rights, child protection and the protection of minorities, the PULSE Foundation has been committed to the protection of rights since its inception of persons belonging to ethnic minorities in Pernik and the region.
The PULSE Foundation has been trusted by the community for years, and this is undoubtedly due to the organization's long-term work on health programs funded by the Ministry of Health.
Thanks to the high level of trust that the PULSE Foundation enjoys in the community, from the start of the project until December 2022, 545 women and men were reached on the territory of Pernik during field work.
873 psychological, health and social consultations were conducted in the field.
156 studies have been conducted to improve health status and health promotion in marginalized communities.
The emphasis of the work was placed both on providing information about the services offered by the PULSE Foundation and other institutions in the territory of Pernik, and on having a long-term positive influence on the local communities, who in turn initiate actions to improve the inclusion of people, living in marginalized communities.
The elapsed period from the start of the project to today is a short period to achieve a large-scale change of a complex social process such as the equal integration of the Roma.
However, it is positive in terms of the socio-economic integration of the risk group in the territory of Pernik that a significant part of the Roma population declares that they have a job, and the children did not drop out of the education system or were subsequently returned to the classrooms and actively attend school. Specific requests from the community to hold events and campaigns to promote the cultural identity of the Roma, as well as those dedicated to the problems of the integration of the Roma community and overcoming existing stereotypes, began to be actively received.
Socio-economic integration is a process that requires sustained and targeted efforts by representatives of institutions, civil society and the Roma community. Only together and united, we can all talk about the good change that will lead to an improvement of the status and opportunities in the marginalized Roma communities in Bulgaria.
The project "Together for good change - an integrated approach for socio-economic integration in the Municipality of Pernik" is financed within the framework of the Human Resources Development 2014-2020 and Science and Education for Smart Growth 2014-2020 programs.
