As I put together my thoughts and reflect on the past year, 2022 was a special year in so many ways.
It's been 7 years since Serve The City Paris became it’s own official 1901 French non-profit, and each year since (even though Covid), we find a way to grow in leaps and bounds. More volunteers, more programs, more donations and gifts, and most importantly, more beneficiaries were supported and serviced in 2022 then any year prior.
We stayed focused in 2022, doing our best to respond to what we see as the main problems in Paris; the lack of shelter for the homeless, the lack of work opportunities for refugees, and the lack of support for asylum seekers (those who have not received ‘refugee status’). STCP also stayed true to the notion that if we help our volunteers become better volunteers through workshops, and at the same time help them with their own personal social impact projects through our S.A.V.E. (Service, Action, Volunteer, Empowerment) Program. Doing this, we have a much better chance overall of tackling these humanitarian problems in Paris.
2022 started out with the additional challenge of supporting not only our Middle East and African Asylum seekers and refugees in Paris, but the Ukrainian refugees forced out of their homes. I believe the French government and the French people did an outstanding job to provide support including shelter (over 200,000 opened their homes to the Ukrainians), food, medical, and even financial support to the Ukrainians, but providing these resources to the thousands of Ukrainians resulted in a lack of support for the Afghanistan, Syrian, West, East and North African asylum seekers and refugees that came to France seeking a better life.
We not only did our best to support these marginalized groups in Paris, but in June we also sent a group of S.A.V.E. Program volunteers to Krakow Poland to provide much needed companionship and support for the Ukrainian women and children, while the men stayed in Ukraine to fight their battle. It was the second year Jonathan Schmutz and Peter DeWit organized a character-building trip with a group of refugees in the French Alps. The STCP Leadership Team also traveled to Lisbon Portugal to attend the Serve The City International Forum, and to spend a week working on the new KA2 Erasmus Plus Change Academy Project.
In early 2022, the Directors and Board members of STCP clearly saw the growing pains that come with the evolution and progress of our NGO. We are long overdue for a new and additional STCP office in Paris. We have raised funds specifically for this endeavor from a very generous and impassioned group of donators. After looking at over 30 different locations in 2022 and the search continues in 2023 as we hope to rent the perfect space in arrondissements of Paris where the majority of the marginalized are.
Meanwhile, the STCP Leadership team didn’t slow down in 2022 in finding solutions for sheltering the homeless in Paris. After running 2 successful crowdfunding campaigns (both during the winters of 2021 and 2022), we have raised over €10,000, dedicated to purchasing tents and sleeping bags for the homeless.
How grateful the team is to have such generous and kindhearted donors and volunteers, who have given their time and money to these programs and causes. We are also grateful for the hard work many of our S.A.V.E. Program members put into creating such impactful (Capstone) projects, all to address the needs and change necessary for our neighborhoods and communities.
Organizing corporate and university volunteer events was also a big highlight in 2022. Colette Mellel and the Leadership Team successfully organized volunteer events and programs with Ernest & Young, SnapChat, Moodys, Insmed Pharmaceutical, CityTaps, Visit.org, Loyola Chicago, Nguyen EM-Lyon, Cisco Systems, Doc Martins, Danone, and Goldman Sachs.
In 2023, we have many new STCP Leadership Team members, who are already moving ahead with improving our food and hygiene product distribution, handing out tents and sleeping bags, adding more S.A.V.E. workshops, organizing more volunteer mobility trips, and implementing more fund raisers and corporate activities. We are excited to launch our French Language Training again at a new location. English language training begins in February as well, followed by a volunteer tutor program for beneficiaries who can learn English to help them find jobs where English is spoken (such as the Olympics in 2024!).
I found this quote below on the internet over the holidays that caught my attention. …“The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” (by William Arthur Word). When I look back at Serve The City Paris in 2022, I think about how we continued to make a difference, demonstrating kindness, taking action, showing humility, compassion, and courage, even in the turbulent times. We had our challenges in 2022, but with such a strong foundation of volunteers, program managers, directors, and donors, and corporate partners, we worked together to find ways to make change, transformation and to help those in need. With the strong foundation in place that all of you provide, we can expect great things in 2023. Please come join us in the new year, in the streets of Paris!
Tom (TJ) Wilscam
Managing Director, Serve The City Paris
