The foundation works in the Hétes settlement of Ózd, out of the city's population of 37 000 people, about a third are of Roma descent, who are living in the most isolated parts of the city, out of which the Hétes settlement is the most poor. 400 people live in deep poverty in the settlement, out of which 250 are children.
Because of the growing rate of unemployment, the residents are dependent on social benefits. These problems affect the educational prospects of the children living there, which seems to be reflected in the fact that up to this day, no Roma person living in the settlement has passed high school final exams.
With the detalied knowledge of 14 years of field work and the 90 families of Hétes, the foundation feels prepared to follow through a complex educational program among the children living in the settlement, which is supported by the foundation of the Danish Velux company.
In the project, according to their plans, they would support 105 Roma children from the Hétes settlement, the children would receive professional, extracurricular education and development. They would take part in several creative activities such as drama, painting or media activities. During the project they would provide the children opportunities for cultural activitites, socialization, development of a career image, personality development, integration to communities and tutoring which would help their advancement in school as well as their choice of career afterward.
During the creative projects all 105 children would participate in the creation of a community artwork (film, antology, theatre, etc.), which would be made public through festivals, competitions and presentations. One of the most emphasized element of the creative projects would be the media workshop that will reflect on the traditions. The youths would present their lives in blogs, films and articles. They developed a method by which the media reporting of our progress would create their material working together with the students of the media workshop.
During the time of the project, the helping relationship between the coordinator, the mentors, the social worker and the schooled children, their families and the accepting institutions would be continuous. It's in the plans to choose 35 high school students and closely follow their studies as well as handling them as a community. The educational institutions are out of the children's area of residence, so during weekdays they have to stay at a dormitory or at the school.
During their time spent in the institution their professionals would provide support for them and their family. Furthermore, during the five years, the cooperation with the schools would provide the appropriate educational process. The 35 pupils studying further would stay in connection with the 70 person community of Creative House and by sharing their experience and thanks to the publicity they become role models to the Roma community as well as to each other. The professionals of the foundation, working together with the parents, would help the children succeed in the educational system. They would work together with the local schools in order to fight the hardships Roma children meet.
The foundation is supported with a non-refundable grant of 270 000 Ft by the Kiegészítő Támogtások Program (Complementary Support Program) which provides support for the preparation work of the project.