ESC: 'A new Hope' with Caritas Sofia

Caritas Sofia was founded on 31 August 1993 and registered as a non-profit charitable organisation at Sofia Court of Justice on 20 April 1994 (no. 20030416009). The 1990s saw Caritas Sofia exclusively focused on providing urgent humanitarian aid to help people survive the heavy economic crisis. Long-term care and assistance provision began in early 2000 as Caritas Sofia registered at the Agency of Social Inclusion and at the State Agency for Child Protection, which enabled the licensed provision of a range of social services. The mission of Caritas Sofia is love and kindness to our neighbor which brings us to those in need. Leaning on Christian values as our guidance, we, the employees and volunteers of Caritas Sofia, assist the most vulnerable members of our society in finding their way to dignity and justice regardless of their religious beliefs, race, gender and other differences. Caritas Sofia is a voice and example of the Social teaching of the Catholic Church. Every person is created in God’s image and in his face we see God. Following the words of Jesus - “What you have done to my youngest brothers and sisters, you have done unto me” - we help the most vulnerable and suffering in the same way that we would take care of Him. Having no means of our own and heavily relying on project funding, we cannot unfortunately cater for the needs of individual cases. Elderly people, vulnerable families and children, refugees, people addicted to narcotic substances, women in need and homeless people all form our target group. Additionally, we also support people wanting to volunteer. The organisation is based in Sofia and assistance is provided in cities and towns where the Catholic Exarchate is present: Sofia, Plovdiv, Burgas, Malko Turnovo, Kuklen, Pokrovan, Banya and Veselinovo.