3 in 1: Cafe, Shop, and Event Space Supporting Underprivileged Youth

The project aims at establishing a social enterprise combining a cafe, shop and event space which will provide an opportunity for prof. development, integration and sustainable employment for inactive or unemployed disadvantaged youths up to 29 years old, and unemployed and inactive persons with a lower competitiveness on the labor market, having finished their higher education or lower and so and without a prof. qualification.According to the NSI, 17.4% of Bulgarians aged between 15 and 24 at the end of 2016 were unemployed and the percentage is rising. As per Step for Bulgaria Foundation’s longer than decade experience, the unemployment among disadvantaged youths is still higher, as is the need for employment. The project's implementation addresses the need for higher and better employment for at-risk youths by providing opportunities for acquiring work habits, professional qualification, skills for independent living, and employment for youths from protected and monitored housing, centers for family-type accommodation, orphanages and other social institutions which the organization has been working with since 2007.The project aims to provide employment for up to 12 months to 12 inactive or unemployed target , at least 6 of whom will remain employed for another 6 months after the end of the project's activities. The job openings will be revealed in 3 complementary economic activities. The cafe, which will offer fresh juices and other healthy food products, will provide the foundation for vocational qualification of the newly employed youths. The shop will extend the scope of the enterprise through the sale of certified bioproducts and products of other social enterprises. The event space will aid the youths' social integration, as well as that of other vulnerable groups, and will provide a venue for promoting socially significant causes upholding the principles of equal opportunities and non-discrimination, gender equality and sustainable development.

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