Athens, Greece is at a crossroads between Asia and Europe. Greece is a stepping stone for many from the Middle East and Central Asia hoping to find asylum in Europe. The refugee community in Athens has experienced being oppressed and uprooted by conflict, threats of violence, discrimination and rejection, while often facing an uncertain future. Although most refugees don’t see a future for themselves in Greece, they often find themselves stuck in Greece for several years. In this time they struggle to learn the language, find employment and integrate into society. One Collective's passion is that

“No one is invisible and everyone has access to food, freedom, and forgiveness."

In our community, making sure no one is invisible looks like providing a safe space where our refugee friends, especially teens, can have ownership, a place in which to be seen and heard and build community with their peers. From this safe space they are empowered to interact with the wider society and cultures around them.
Food stands for physical needs. Many organizations in Athens reach out with practical help like meals, showers and housing. Through networking and giving referrals we help to improve access to these resources. We maintain an emergency relief fund for those in the community whose basic needs fall through the cracks.
A large portion of our work is in the ‘freedom’ area: mental health and trauma care, advocacy, and working with the whole family to bring holistic freedom. We provide spaces for conversations about life questions, relationships, peacemaking and transitions. This merges naturally into the forgiveness aspect. By providing mentoring and discipleship, and fostering community around the values and rhythms of the ways of Jesus, we walk alongside our friends on their journey of seeking hope, peace and reconciliation.

We are part of the larger One Collective Central Athens team reaching out to marginalized people in the center of Athens, in partnership with local churches and NGOs.

Read more about the global work of One Collective.

The teens in the refugee community often go unnoticed. Like other teens they deal with life questions of identity and meaning, magnified by their experience of displacement and loss. They grow up in between cultures and are often the bridge between their family and the host society, holding responsibility beyond their years. They carry the weight of responsibility to help their families navigate the confusing, ever-changing maze of government bureaucracy, resources available to them and simply living in a foreign country, language and culture. In addition, they carry with them past traumatic experiences as well as narratives of distrust, conflict and generational trauma. However, teens also have strong resilience, endless interests and are eager to grow. 

We provide safe empowering spaces and walk alongside teens and their families by providing a location in the center of Athens where teens can come after school, to rest, process their day, have fun and participate in community.
We offer group trauma care sessions and mentoring and counselling from mental health professional partners.
We provide opportunities for them to pursue their interests through classes and activities for art, music, games, cooking, exercise, mental health, languages and life skills.
Together, we learn about Greece through outings to cultural sites, nature parks, and going on hikes.

We are passionate about seeing the lives of these teens and their families transformed through the ways of Jesus, walking alongside them on their journey. We share life together, talk about questions of culture, transition and identity, while also thinking about what it looks like to work towards God’s vision of a restored and reconciled community. We also seek to involve the whole family in these conversations.  

As a result of the oppression and political upheaval in refugees’ countries of origin, the Arts have often been suppressed. Yet art is something many in our community have carried with them on their journey or have a desire to rediscover. They long for their voice to be heard, to find ways to peace, to safeguard and express beauty, and to express lament.

Art can be a part of bringing people together by providing a creative community where refugees develop skills in the arts, learn to share their voice and knowledge, and are inspired and empowered to share their gifts and stories with others. Through teaching different art forms to students of all skill levels, leading various creative projects and investing in deeper relationships, art class becomes a means to build bridges in the wider community and help bring people together. 

We seek to model the art community after the ways of Jesus and his kingdom-centered teaching, through providing safe spaces to share life together and establishing community rhythms modeled after the kingdom of God. We create together, and celebrate the beauty around us. We make a habit of checking in, sharing the ups and downs of our day. We lament the difficult things that happen and respond to them together. We speak out against injustices.

Till We Have Faces social media platform

An Afghan tale passed on through generations from Grandmother to Granddaughter on the Night of Yalda

 A major need many refugees face is the need for mental health and trauma care. They have experienced trauma from (threats of) violence and war in their countries of origin and along their journey. Additionally, many carry burdens of generational trauma from narratives of distrust, hate and suffering relating to their ethnicity, tribe, culture or faith passed along from previous generations.

We seek to work in a way that is trauma aware, providing safe places for refugees (especially teens) to be able to open up and express themselves and share about their lives. We believe that healing happens in community, and by creating a safe community the first steps towards restoration and wholeness can be made. Also, individual and communal trauma has often caused walls of distrust to be built up. In community, people can take steps in the direction of trusting others and learning to give and receive love again. 

First Aid Arts

Within the safe place of community, we provide opportunities for trauma-healing activities in group settings. The focus here is on feeling safe, setting healthy boundaries and learning basic coping skills. In some cases, more expertise is needed and we are building connections with professional counselors and psychologists to be able to refer our friends to when needed. Through the organization Veemate Mazi we are also providing trauma awareness workshops to help equip other caregivers - both lay people and professionals.