On the photo: the ambassador of the French Republic in Bulgaria: M. Xavier Lapeyre de Cabanes, and Dr. Elena Kabakchieva, President of HESED

HESED proudly announces that our Chair Dr. Elena Kabakchieva, has been honored to be awarded with the National Order of Merit of France. The award is a highest recognition of the efforts of Dr. Kabakchieva for development of innovative social and health programs for vulnerable groups and improvement of the wellbeing of the children in Bulgaria. In the recent years Dr Kabakchieva and HESED, dedicated their efforts to develop the Model for Integrated Development (MIR) of Roma communities. The Model aims at breaking the vicious circle of poverty and providing better chances for successful social and professional integration of the Roma children.

HESED has developed a new type of social infrastructure with a positive impact on the community as a whole – the MIR centers. They are located in the immediate vicinity of neighborhoods, providing a social and psychological comfort for the people who use them. All services in the MIR centers are offered according to the needs and abilities of their users from cradle to adulthood. One of the latest achievements of the team is the capacity for providing financial literacy trainings for Roma, as a result of our participation in Finally – financial literacy for Roma Project, Grundtvig Multilateral Project, implemented in partnership with 6 European countries.