SOS Children’s Villages and Heimstaden Bostad Launch Unique Partnership
Today, SOS Children's Villages and Heimstaden Bostad launch a unique partnership that will create safe homes and a solid platform for children and families all over the world.
The partnership, named A Home for a Home will, in its first year, support more than 30 different initiatives in 19 countries, including programmes for family strengthening, foster care, and youth employment. For each home they own, Heimstaden donates EUR 100 annually to SOS Children’s Villages. Today, Heimstaden Bostad owns more than 110,000 homes across Europe, and as the company grows, so will the size of the donation.
“Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, more children and families than ever need our help. A Home for a Home helps us meet urgent needs and scale up our programmes, and it also gives us a great opportunity to try out new measures. Together with Heimstaden, we can make a significant impact in many lives”, says Sissel Aarak, Secretary General in SOS Children’s Villages Norway.
High Ambitions
SOS Children’s Villages and Heimstaden’s ambition is to set a new standard for non-profit/corporate collaboration to find new ways of working together. One example is a project in Guinea-Bissau where SOS Children’s Villages is developing the next generation children’s village. By leveraging Heimstaden’s expertise in real estate management and sustainability, the updated village will become a sustainable hub for the local community, providing clean energy as well as digital access, vocational training and emergency housing for children and youth in the local community.
“This partnership is so much more than donations. With A Home for a Home, we take our sustainability work to the next level and extend our mission of Friendly Homes to thousands of children and families around the world. We see great opportunities to leverage our broad knowledge and engage our employees and partners, as well as our customers on this exciting journey”, says Patrik Hall, Heimstaden CEO.
Impact of the pandemic
Today, over 200 million children are living under unstable conditions and are at risk of losing the care of their families. The pandemic has negatively affected the fight against poverty and hunger, and as a result, the number of teenage pregnancies, child marriages, and mental health problems are rising in many parts of the world.
“Nothing is more important than giving children a safe and happy childhood. We have 70 years of experience of how to best strengthen families and be there for children who no longer have caregivers. Through A Home for a Home, we will be able to help many more children and families, creating positive impact for generations to come”, says Sissel Aarak.
In addition to supporting many global programmes, A Home for a Home also supports programmes to help children and families in the countries where Heimstaden is present. In close collaboration, local SOS Children’s Villages and Heimstaden teams have started to develop targeted initiatives towards children and families in Heimstaden’s markets.
Contacts:
Christian V. Dreyer, CCO
+47 907 24 999
christian.dreyer@heimstaden.com
About Heimstaden
Heimstaden is a leading residential real estate company in Europe, which buys, develops and manages homes. Through our values Care, Dare and Share, we create value for owners and Friendly Homes for customers. We own about 114,000 homes with a property value of SEK 180 billion. Read more at www.heimstaden.com
