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poverty and social exclusion
By Nyegosh Dube, EFC
During the past two decades, Poland has been held up as a showcase of transformation
from a sovietstyle communist state to a modern democratic capitalist country. The nation
has prospered. Incomes, living standards, and education levels have steadily risen. Yet
the changes have left many people economically and socially marginalised. At greatest
risk of exclusion are members of disadvantaged groups, including people with disabilities,
addictions, family problems or criminal records. So, alongside the vibrant new Poland,
there is considerable poverty and social exclusion. Among the organisations and institutions
trying to address this situation are the Foundation for Poland and the Barka Foundation.
The Foundation for Poland (Fundacja dla Polski
FdP) promotes philanthropic engagement by
identifying potential donors and providing them
with practical solutions and advice on how they can
contribute to the public good. The
foundation manages trust funds
set up by wealthy families and
individuals, and helps those wishing
to create their own foundations.
The FdP also makes people aware of
the challenges facing Polish society
and how they can contribute to
solving them, by undertaking its
own activities in relation to social
exclusion and poverty. Currently it
runs two programmes in this area:
the Street Children Programme
and the Regional Development
Programme.
These programmes were a response to
the sometimes very dicult life situations
of many people in Poland who did not get
on the bus called positive eects of the
market economy. There were too many
people left out, forgotten, not adequately
assisted, says Agnieszka Sawczuk, director
of the Foundation for Poland. There are many disadvantaged
groups but we decided to focus on children and on people
living in rural areas in eastern Poland.
Sawczuk points out that children are disproportionately aected
by economic disadvantage, with a shocking 30% of them living
in poverty. She cites the slogan: Poverty in Poland has the face
of a child. Other striking statistics are that 38% of the Polish
population lives in rural areas and
nearly 20% of all employed people
live o agriculture. The poverty levels
are high in these areas, with a high
rate of mostly hidden unemployment,
especially in the countrys eastern
regions, which have historically been
poorer than the western parts.
The Street Children Programme
is implemented through non-
governmental organisations (NGOs).
As Sawczuk explains: NGOs working
locally know best what the local
needs are and what the needs of the
children living there are. She believes
that local NGOs are able to work
more eciently and make better use
of limited resources, so that more
young people can benet from the
programme. The programme has
funded innovative initiatives by
NGOs and training to improve these
organisations eectiveness. A major
strand of the programme is the Street Economy project, which
helps disadvantaged young people learn to build on what
they already have and develop entrepreneurial skills and a
responsible attitude towards work and nances.
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Agnieszka Sawczuk,
The Foundation for Poland
The Foundation for Poland
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The Regional Development Programme is based on a simple
premise, according to Sawczuk: We want to show people in
rural areas that they can use the assets they already have their
knowledge of their local and family heritage and show them
how to make it work for them. Participants are encouraged
to get involved in producing local and traditional products,
both foodstus and handicrafts. The FdP chose this approach
because it believes that Poland has much to oer in terms of
its traditions. The results are tangible: people gain condence
and self-respect, they can earn a living and so dont need to
emigrate, and they contribute to the economic development
of their region.
To implement the Regional Development Programme, the
FdP funds experts to develop the skills and knowledge of
producers, and also other actors (such as local public ocials),
for example regarding the registration and promotion of local
and traditional products. It also cooperates with the Polish
Chamber of Regional and Local Products to promote the use
of a quality label, and is developing a web portal for regional
products. Furthermore, the FdP is working to bring about
legislative changes in order to create a more positive legal and
scal environment for the producers of these products.
The FdP works with a variety of funders and partners. Moreover,
each project within the two programmes has its own funding.
The FdP has received support for specic projects from a
range of foundations, companies, and public institutions,
including Street Kids International together with Ecco (the
company provides funds to SKI and also sponsors a walkathon),
Levi Strauss, the Cooperation Fund Foundation, the French
Ministry of Agriculture, and the Polish Ministry of Labour and
Social Policy. It also receives support from individuals through
Polands 1% tax designation scheme.
How does the FdP get all these funders involved? Each funder
is interested in dierent aspects of social exclusion, so we try to
match them to specic projects, says Sawczuk. You need to
know the interests of each funder and you need to understand
what success means for them, and then you make them
understand that through your organisation they can succeed.
This way dierent funders complement each other: one may
wish to support training of NGOs, another may want to raise
awareness of social problems through publications.
Although it is not an EFC member, the FdP does have close
connections with several members. In fact, the foundation was
created in 1990 as a trust of the Fondation de France and only
became independent in 1997. This partnership impacted the
way we operate today, notes Sawczuk. The Street Children
Programme was set up with seed funding from the King Baudouin
Foundation. The Foundations overall approach to promoting
philanthropy draws on the examples of the Fondation de France
and the Charities Aid Foundation (CAF). Also, the FdP belongs
to the Transnational Giving Europe network, which consists
mostly of EFC members. The experience and knowledge we
have acquired from EFC members is invaluable and has been
very inspirational, says Sawczuk. They really understand the
importance of sharing their expertise, not only out of solidarity
but because its in their own best interest, for its impossible
to escape the global challenges wars, poverty, social unrest
that are vivid examples that discontent anywhere can lead to
discontent everywhere.
For more information
Foundation for Poland: www.fdp.org.pl (only in Polish)
Agnieszka Sawczuk: a.sawczuk@fdp.org.pl

The Barka Foundation
The Barka Foundation was set up to help marginalised
people in very dicult life situations, such as the
homeless, the unemployed, evicted families, people
with disabilities, those with long-term physical or
mental health problems, troubled young people,
former prisoners, alcoholics and drug addicts. Barkas
founders, Tomasz and Barbara Sadowski, set up
their rst community home in 1989 in a village near
Poznan, where some 25 marginalised individuals
lived together with the Sadowskis and their three
daughters.
According to one of these daughters, Ewa Sadowska, now
a Barka board member and director of Barka UK, these were
people who couldnt nd themselves in the new reality, who
were confused by the rapid change of system. They took over
a derelict school and became a self-sucient community: a
kind of social enterprise based on ecological farming where
everyone worked and felt needed. The aim was to create
a supportive and stable environment that would enable
people to lead happy and normal lives. It was probably the
rst experiment of its kind in Europe. There are now 26 such
communities across Poland, in both rural and urban areas, each
of them an independent association.
Alongside these communities, Barka has three other
programmes: education, creation of workplaces, and
accessible housing. Within these programmes, dozens of
social cooperatives, self-help groups, and training centres
have been set up. Altogether, the Barka network consists of 65
independent entities of various types.
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As Sadowska makes clear, the Barka
philosophy is very dierent from
charity: It was very important for us
to create a system in which people
in need could fully develop their
potential as human beings, a system
not based on charity, but one which
would help people grow and become
self-sucient and take ownership of
their own lives. The concept of mutual
help is central to this approach: those
who have rebuilt their lives help
others to do the same. By living and
working with others, learning new
skills and setting up enterprises while
overcoming destructive addictions,
people can start leading normal,
fullling lives.
While Barka communities and
social cooperatives are largely self-
supporting, Barka has also received
funding from the European Unions
EQUAL Programme, the United
Nations Development Programme,
the Polish government and local authorities, the national 1%
scheme, and Denmarks Vilux Foundation. Public authorities
have also transferred unused land and buildings to Barka. For
several years, Barka administered the EQUAL programme in
Poland and distributed grants mainly to help set up 25 social
cooperatives. Barka itself gives away land to winners of its
annual Most Outstanding Leader contest.
Through its advocacy eorts, Barka helped to get a new
legislative framework in place that facilitates the type of social
approach it has pioneered. The four laws enacted between
2002 and 2006 include the Law on Social Employment which
provides for education of people of low employability through
vocational schools called Centres of Social Integration. The
other laws cover social housing, social cooperatives, public-
benet organisations and voluntarism.
Since 2007 Barka has also been working actively in the UK,
helping mostly Polish migrants who nd themselves homeless
of which there are hundreds just in London. Leaders from the
Barka network have gone to London, with the support of local
public authorities, to help provide assistance to those in need.
The UK does not oer welfare benets to workers from Eastern
Europe if they nd themselves in dire straits, unless they have
worked legally for a year. Many homeless migrants, already
around 400 of them, have been given the chance of returning
to Poland, so that they can benet from the Barka infrastructure
of social assistance, as well
as state-funded facilities like
detox centres and hospitals.
Sadowska believes that
the Barka model could be
universally applied, and that
it would work equally well
in other parts of Europe,
or in Asia or Africa. She is
critical of the way that many
European countries deal
with the poorest and most
disadvantaged members of
society: The welfare system
in many Western European
countries makes people
dependent on social money,
but their situation doesnt
change. Its vegetation, not
development and growth.
The Barka foundation hopes
that by pioneering a more
proactive approach, one
that works with people and
helps them to rebuild their
own lives, it can help to
improve the lives of many thousands of people who otherwise
would be left on the sidelines of society. Sadowska invites EFC
members to visit the Barka network and explore possibilities
for joint ventures and other interesting initiatives to support.
She is eager to share with others the expertise and models that
Barka has developed during the past 20 years: Perhaps we
could together replicate this model in other countries.
For more information
Barka Foundation: www.barka.org.pl / www.barkauk.org
Ewa Sadowska: ewa.sadowska@gmail.com
Ewa Sadowska,
The Barka Foundation
It was very important for us to
create a system in which people
in need could fully develop their
potential as human beings, a
system not based on charity, but
one which would help people grow
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ownership of their own lives.