Many companies send gifts to clients and business partners at Christmas. For BUWOG Group it is now almost a tradition to forgo Christmas gifts and, instead, donate the intended amount to a social project. This year BUWOG Group is supporting the Caritas “MUKI-mobil” project with a donation of EUR 20,000.
In December the symbolic presentation of the check took place at Haus Immanuel. “With the sum we support the marvellous work of the Caritas team at Haus Immanuel and would like to help mothers and children in difficult life situations”, says Daniel Riedl, CEO of BUWOG Group, explaining the motives behind it. Christine Polesny, a Caritas employee at Haus Immanuel, expressed thanks on behalf of the families and was pleased that, through BUWOG’s donation, the “MUKI-mobil” project was financially secured for another year.
The “MUKI-mobil” project is a continuing service of Caritas Haus, where homeless Austrian and international mothers and their children find a new home. After moving out of the transitional residence into their own flat, the “MUKI-mobil” programme provides an important type of assistance in the form of counselling and support such as accompaniment along official channels, support in the search for therapists, help in the encouragement of children as well as short-term financial aid when a family is threatened with eviction.
In addition to the check for the “MUKI-mobil” donation, Ingrid Fitzek (Director Marketing & Communication) also presented Christmas gifts for the 20 mothers and 33 children who currently reside at Haus Immanuel: in addition to daytime passes for the Therme Wien spa, there were children’s books, hula hoops and footballs. The youngest residents will receive the gifts as part of an internal Christmas party and the traditional exchange of gifts at Caritas.
After presenting the donation, Silke Scharf, founding member of the Caritas home and employee at “MUKI-mobil”, talked about her work at Haus Immanuel and the residents’ often very tragic stories. She has worked at the facility for over 20 years and also reported numerous stories of success to us in which she, together with the team, successfully provided counselling and support to mothers so they were able to lead an independent life again.
Afterward Ms Fitzek and I were given a tour by Ms Polesny through the home on Vorgartenstraße in Vienna. In addition to common rooms such as the laundry room, clothing warehouse and meeting rooms, she also showed us a nicely decorated room for the children, the so-called “playroom”, in which the girls and boys can work off steam exercising and dancing. You get a sense that the people here feel at ease and have found a loving and pleasant home, at least for awhile.
Gemeinschaftsraum Toberaum Wohnung im Haus Immanuel
