Polis Group
A - DESCRIPTION OF THE GOOD PRACTICE
A1 - Title in original language
GRUPPO POLIS
A2 - Title in English
POLIS GROUP
A3 - Location of GP (national)
Italy
A4 - Location of GP (regional)
Veneto Region
A5 - Economic field of activity
Q Human health and social work activities
A6 - Ultimate purpose of GP
To create or conserve employment
To provide educational opportunities
To improve social cohesion/inclusion
A7 - Spatial scale
Local
A8a - Start date
The most longevous cooperative of the Group works since 1985
A8b - Anticipated end date (if applicable)
ongoing
A9 - Short description of the GP
Gruppo Polis is a joint cooperative group which brings together five cooperatives from Padua which work for people in difficulty by carrying out educational, rehabilitative, residential and occupational services, promoting the job placement of disadvantaged people and the culture of openness, inclusion and solidarity.
The group is composed of 3 "type A" social cooperatives and of 2 "type B" social cooperatives: Polis NOVA, Il Portico, PNL, Gruppo R, Sinfonia. The Group provides services in key areas of intervention, namely mental health, disability, social exclusion and job placement. The synergy among the different realities of Gruppo Polis, well connected to the network permits the creation of a real rehabilitation chain.
A10 - Key words relating to the GP
Mental health
Disability
Social exclusion
Working inclusion
Innovative projects
A11 - Objectives of the GP
Gruppo Polis is a joint cooperative group which work for disadvantaged people by carrying out educational, rehabilitative, residential and occupational services. It wants to promote the job placement of disadvantaged people and the culture of openness, inclusion and solidarity. Gruppo Polis, together with the Municipality of Padua, is the promoter of an innovative project aimed at providing support to women victims of violence or prostitution trades. The Group in the near future intends to strengthen its presence on the territory of Padua and to open new services mainly oriented toward territorial primary care, in the specific fields of mental health and job placement.
A12 - Activities that have taken place
The Group provides services in key areas of intervention, namely mental health, disability, social exclusion and job placement. Specifically in the areas of intervention, the services offered are:
Mental health: personalized paths to reduce the limits of mental illness.The Group operates several facilities for people with psychiatric disorders including a rehabilitation center during the day, a residential protected therapeutic community and apartments for people with different degrees of self-sufficiency.
Disability: individualized projects aimed at the recovery or enhancement of skills and autonomy. Among the initiatives there are day care centers for disabled people with different levels of self-sufficiency. The Group also manages also a housing-community for people with psycho-physic disabilities and a community housing for people with psychiatric disorders.
Social exclusion: services aimed at improving the situation of users in distress. As anticipated, the Group's commitment in this area is strong as it goes from the supply of residential care, protected too, to the development of social and working insertion paths. The initiatives organized in this area are a day care center for initial reception, a day center for employment and a community for persons who are out of the street.
Working inclusion: paths for disadvantaged people or in difficulty from the professional point of view that need tutoring in the world of work. The job placements are managed mostly by PNL which offers many opportunities especially with regard to services for local companies. Among them are: packaging, assembly, machining and electromechanical manufacturing, storage and logistics. In PNL there is a professional dedicated to the care of the commercial aspects and then in search of orders. Also SINFONIA is currently researching the work inclusion of a person who joins the staff of the agency in the activities of organizing meetings and conferences, corporate events, preparation of fairs.
A13 - Achievements of the GP
The Group has built over the years a strong network of relationships in the territory which undeniably has facilitated its success. The decision not to adopt a top-down organizational structure has proven to be an undeniable strength of the Group that, by counting on the support of all its associated cooperatives and the territorial network, was able to increase its efforts and diversify the services offered: this variety is the success factor of the Group. The absence of a true leader has also facilitated the sharing of responsibilities within the Group and the professionalization of all the members.
B - IMPACT ON SOCIETY AND ECONOMY
B1 - How has the GP impacted on the following?
B1a - Legal/financial exclusion
Neutral impacts
Any other comments?
B1b - Creation or conservation of local employment
Very positive impacts
Any other comments?
Gruppo Polis aims to create job placement for disadvantaged people ansd also it gives occupational services at different level of specialization.
B1c - Adaptation to new realities
Very positive impacts
Any other comments?
The GP, promoting the job placement of disadvantaged people and individual paths of rehabilitation and education, carries the culture of openness, inclusion and solidarity.
B1d - Cross sectoral working
Impacts not known
Any other comments?
B1e - Enablement of social enterpreneurship
Very positive impacts
Any other comments?
The particular sinergy about the different cooperatives that composed the Group garantees to the territory an high quality and variety of the services that responds at the several needs of local people. For that we can say that the GP is an example of the enablement of social enterpreneurship.
B1f - Amenities for local people
Positive impacts
Any other comments?
The acivity of the GP is a great help for local people who can turn to the Group to solve many problems regardind the care of disadvantaged people and their social inclusion.
B1g - Educational opportunities
Very positive impacts
Any other comments?
The GP offers educational and rehabilitative paths for people with psychiatric problems and mental disabilities to facilitate their social integration and job placement. Also it provides services of residential care (protected, too) and social integration as well as paths of work tutoring to people affected by various forms of social disadvantages: homeless, people living in poverty or marginality, women victims of violence and prostitution trades.
B1h - Crisis response
Neutral impacts
Any other comments?
B1i - Local financial environment for social enterpreneurs
Neutral impacts
Any other comments?
B1j - Local policy environment for social enterpreneurs
Neutral impacts
Any other comments?
B1k - National financial environment for social enterpreneurs
Impacts not known
Any other comments?
B1l - National policy environment for social enterpreneurs
Impacts not known
Any other comments?
C - PARTNERSHIPS & GOVERNANCE
C1 - Is the governance of this GP fully inclusive?
Beneficiaries have no/almost no involvement in government
Comments and learning points
The beneficiaries of the activity of GP because of their caracteristics are not involved in the governement of the Group.
C2 - How influential has this GP been on local or national decision makers?
Not known
Comments and learning points
C3 - How much partnership work has been involved?
No real partnership working carried out
Comments and learning points
D - PR & TRANSFERABILITY
D1 - Please describe how the GP communicated its experience and success to the public
The GP creates an important network of relationships with other organizations in the territory collaborating with Local Health Unit, with the Municipality of Padua and also with other sector organizations but it doesn't promote their acivitiesd with the normal communication channels.
D2 - Please describe how the GP communicated with local or national decision makers?
The GP collaborates with the Municipality of Padua for innovative projects about social inclusion and support of women victims of violence or prostitution trades.
D3 - Are there any elements of this project that you think would transfer particularly well to other contexts?
One of the most important characteristic of the Group is its structure: the synergy among the different realities of Gruppo Polis, well connected to the network permits the creation of a real rehabilitation chain.The decision not to adopt a top-down organizational structure has proven to be an undeniable strength of the Group. Another transferrable feature is the innovative project with the MUnicipality of Padua. In fact, only in the Municipality of Padua, 34% of women living between 16 and 70 years said they had been victims of physical, sexual or psychological violence during their lifetime. The number of women who had the courage to denounce the violence is much lower and reaches only 5%. To face this new emergency, the Group has started a series of initiatives aimed at the protection of women victims of domestic violence and women victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation:
- hosting in two apartments with a secret address in order to take the victims away from the hands of their exploiters and their persecutors. The women, who spend in the apartments a period of about 10 months, receive medical and psychological care, establish relationships based on trust, begin paths of individualized work tutoring;
- a vocational and training workshop that helps users to rebuild their autonomy through a solid support in the professional growth;
- awareness campaigns against trafficking and violence against women, to promote awareness and solidarity of citizens, institutions and businesses.
E - RESOURCES AND SUSTAINABILITY
E1a - Total annual income of GP 2011/12
€ 6.000.000
E1b - How is this made up?
The Group has good relations with the banks, although in some periods, to provide for the lack of liquidity, it had to rely upon the loans by its shareholders, a practice allowed by the statute. It has regular relationships with Unicredit, Antonveneta, Intesa San Paolo, Banca Prossima and BCC.
E1c - Details of human resources
On the whole, the social base of the group is composed by 450 associates and of 120 employees, 10 of which are disadvantaged people
E1d - Details of technology
None to date
E1e - Details of financial investment for start-up/early stage
None to date
E1f - Details of external support
It has regular relationships with the banks to solve problems of liquidity.
E2 - If public funding were withdrawn, could the GP continue to exist?
Being a joint group of social cooperatives, the GP, if public funding were withdrawn, could continue to exist for the strenghten of its acivity but probably it will have initial difficulties.
F - EXECUTIVE BODY AND CONTACT INFORMATION
F1 - Who set up the GP?
Not-for-profit organisation
F2 - Who runs the GP?
Partnership (please give details)
The group is composed of 3 "type A" social cooperatives and of 2 "type B" social cooperatives: Polis Nova, Il Portico, PNL, Gruppo R, Sinfonia.
F3 - Short description/comments
Polis NOVA owns some day care centers for people with mental illnesses and intellectual disabilities. In 1998 from "Polis NOVA" a new cooperative is born: PNL (Polis NOVA Lavoro), a "type B" cooperative, which deals mainly with job training and job placement in the industrial assembly sector for third parties. The Portico is a "type A" cooperative that was created with the intent of managing in a network the first residential structures for hosting the users. PNL is a "type B" cooperative which has been operating since 1998 in the area of local business services, managing outsourcing contracts at different levels of specialization. Gruppo R is a "type A" social cooperative that since 2001 provides services of residential care (protected, too) and social integration as well as paths of work tutoring to people affected by various forms of social disadvantages: homeless, people living in poverty or marginality, women victims of violence and prostitution trades. Sinfonia is a "type B" social cooperative, which was founded in 2003 to manage the corporate image of the Group and the cooperatives that constitute it.
F4 - Contact
Roberto Baldo
GRUPPO POLIS
Due Palazzi 16, 35136 Padova
Italia
Telephone 049 8900506
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
www.gruppopolis.it
G - SUPPORTING INFORMATION
G1 - Photos (between 1 & 3)
G2 - E documents
G3 - Any other useful information
The Group has built over the years a strong network of relationships in the territory which undeniably has facilitated its success. Gruppo Polis is associated with two consortia in the territory:
- Consorzio Veneto Insieme, an association of social cooperatives that promotes a network of cooperatives at provincial level.
- Consorzio Tre Venezie, a strategic partnership with the objective to compete in regional calls.
The group is then entered Confcooperative Veneto, a body which ensures its political and institutional protection. In addition to the official relationships, there are also strong contacts with the Local Health Authorities (ULSSs) and the local public authorities, the Municipality of Padua among all. Gruppo R is included in specific networks for the type of disadvantage it addresses: the Fio.psd - Italian Federation of Organisations Working for the Homeless, at national level and Agorà – Agency of the Associated Organizations for Homeless, which the cooperative itself promoted at city level.