For a year now, we have been helping people with debts through the VOL Zůstat na svobode project, which we implement thanks to support from the European Social Fund within the Operational Program Employment+ (reg. number CZ.03.02.01/00/22_043/0001489).
We launched the project with the aim of supporting at least 240 people who are serving a sentence or have been released from prison. However, reality has shown that the demand for help in the field of debt counseling is much higher. Currently, we already provided support to 520 people . We helped a number of them with debt mapping, preparing for debt relief or settling insolvency. As of 31 August 2024, we have successfully completed 40 insolvencies.
Debt is a serious problem in prisons - up to 90% of prisoners are over-indebted , and prison systems often do not have experts in this area available. The only effective solution remains the cooperation of prisons with non-profit organizations. Unfortunately, the limited capacities of these organizations complicate the situation.
We hope that a new call will soon be announced by the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs, which would once again enable targeted support for people who are over-indebted. In the meantime, we are concentrating as much as possible on using all the possibilities that the VOL Stay Free project provides us.
If you are interested in more information about the project or the issue of debt counseling in prisons, do not hesitate to contact us. Together, we can help ensure that people have a better chance of a fresh start when they return to freedom
Project VOL Stay free reg. no. reg. C. CZ.03.02.01/00/22_043/0001489 is financed from the European Social Fund plus and the state budget through the Operational Program Employment plus.
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