Become a mentor for refugees and support them in their arrival in Chemnitz
Sächsischer Flüchtlingsrat e.V.
- Families
- Migrants & Refugees
- Education & Language Support
- Mentoring, Sponsoring & Career Coaching
- Sports & Leisure Activities
About the volunteering opportunity
The Save Me Chemnitz project is committed to a sustainable coexistence of refugees and locals at eye level. It arranges mentorships between refugees and Chemnitz residents in order to create encounters and support the process of arrival and integration of refugees in Chemnitz. Integration is a long-term process in which voluntary support is important not only at the beginning, i.e. in the "welcoming" of the refugees, but also in the long term in the arrival and settling in the local society. The project relies on volunteers who work directly with refugees as mentors, supporting them and thus acting as companions in everyday life.
Your Tasks
As a mentor, you can be a support for refugees to find their way in a new environment and culture, to arrive, to feel comfortable and welcome.
Concrete support is agreed individually.
This can include:
- Solving everyday issues together
- Learning German together
- Exploring the city together and organizing leisure time
- Accompanying people to counseling centers
- Supporting them in finding a place to live or a job
- Having an open ear and offering advice and support
When mentoring an individual or a a family, it is always decided individually, which support need exists and which mentor can help well. In general, a mentorship is about helping with orientation in a new city and the first contact with the local population. Mentorships are intended as "help for self-help", to promote independent action in the new environment and social contacts. Possible tasks arise in each case from the needs and wishes of both sides.
What's needed
- intercultural competence
- openness and patience
- solidarity and interest in supporting the integration of refugees
Time required
A mentorship can be designed individually, the sponsors themselves determine the amount of time. Either an open mentorship meeting for the exchange with other volunteers or a training on various topics takes place monthly.
Where?
Sächsischer Flüchtlingsrat e.V.
Since its founding in 1991, the Sächsischer Flüchtlingsrat e.V. (SFR) has advocated for the interests and rights of refugees and asylum seekers in the Free State of Saxony. We advise people before, during and after their asylum procedure in matters relating to the Asylum and Residence Act, reductions in benefits, as well as the perspective of the right to stay. In addition, the SFR offers information and advice in the area of labor market integration. With its public relations work, the SFR documents, publishes and criticizes human rights abuses in the field of asylum and migration in Saxony.
The association, its members and employees always act according to the principles that every person - regardless of origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, ability, social or economic status, has a right to equal participation. Achieving political, social and economic participation for all people living in Saxony, regardless of their origin or residence status, is always the core of our actions in the sense of empowerment. This also means always acting in the interest of refugees. Through structural and direct support of refugees, the association promotes their enablement, empowerment and self-organization.
The SFR is non-partisan and non-denominational. As part of the federal working group PRO ASYL, the association provides information on current developments and takes an advisory role. At the federal and state level, it works together with other social groups to enforce the rights of those seeking protection.