Our Supervisory Board approved the application for membership of Hela Människan. Hela Människan is a Swedish non-for profit organisation based in Stockholm and founded in the Christian faith in 1920 by representatives from different religious denominations and the Swedish Missionary Union.
Hela Människan is active in Sweden in the fields of alcohol and drug addiction, homelessness, food and clothing banks, and anti-trafficking. It currently employs 450 full-time staff and approximately 3000 permanent volunteers.
Hela Människan’s work is based on Christian values and adheres to the principles of respect for human life and dignity. Our new Swedish member has historically been committed to assisting those affected by alcohol and drugs addiction, regardless of their race, gender, nationality or religious affiliation.
Hela Människan provides the following services across Sweden:
- Alcohol and drugs addiction treatment programs
- Homeless shelters
- Health care centres
- Food and clothing banks
- Labour market integration programmes
- Anti-trafficking programmes
Hela Människan is a member of several national networks such as The National Forum for Voluntary Organizations; The Swedish Association for Non-Profit Health and Social Service Providers; Bilda; Ideell Arena; The Swedish Council for Information on Alcohol and Other Drugs and the Christian Council of Sweden. Eurodiaconia will be the first international network joined by Hela Människan.
In their application form Hela Människan state that they wish to have a membership of Eurodiaconia because: “We are already active in different networks. What we are missing is a larger network to exchange best practices and doing lobbying at EU-level. We can get some of this here in Sweden, but not enough to develop in a realistic context or get truly inspired.
Our staff in the office can offer a lot in internal educational programmes. We also think we can contribute when it comes to cooperation with the public actors on different levels. Our Secretary General is an expert on policy for civil society in general at the national and global level. Of course, we are also experienced in diaconal work ecumenically. Our local units are ready to welcome others to share and to learn. We would love to be a part of such a network.”
To know more about Hela Människan, please check the official webpage.