It all started when Elías, the director of the association, decided to help a woman who was living in the street with no resources, and another girl with a little baby, whose only opportunity was to share a bed with other two people.
That´s how Associació Gràcia started. It is a non-profit organization, lead by a group of active and enthusiastic people, eager to collaborate and help people against the poverty that exists around them.

We have gathered a team with people who collaborate in every aspect of the project, such as support in taking care of the children, making the learning of language and childcare easier, helping and offering orientation in social and job reintegration, organizing events and projects, etc. These volunteers have degrees in different areas and the offer their work in their areas of expertise, including law and medicine as well as job placement and psychology.

Our first step is getting to know the mother and children, so as to understand their situation and define their needs. Then, we offer them a place to live in a stable environment, while they get a job and adapt to their new life. We try to help them in every aspect, so as to help them build a decent and worthy life. We count on our professionals for these tasks.

To carry out this task we work with different organizations that are dedicated to similar or complementary tasks, enriching mutually our possibilities and projects. Here begins Associació Gràcia´s second and most important stage: becoming the Spanish member of EUROCHIPS, the European network that accompanies children who have a father or a mother in prison. It is an organization with professionals and long-term volunteers, who are a real support for the small ones who visit their imprisoned parents. In addition to this, we have diverse projects to strengthen the relation father - son, aiming for the recognition of this fundamental link for any child, beyond the circumstances of their parents.

We´ve worked with EUROCHIPS since 2008, participating locally and internationally in the projects, conferences and assemblies of the organization. Besides the immediate program of support of the visits to jail (in an environment adapted for such an purpose, a playful, calm and agreeable space, which we are creating inside the jail), we have many ideas that will be developed in due time; for example the creation of a "school of paternity" in order to reinforce the link between the imprisoned parents and their children in the best possible way.

This new stage has not only opened the perspectives at an European level, but also inside the Spanish territory, since we are establishing bows with Madrid, Bilbao and Valencia, to accompany the children with imprisoned parents of these geographical areas.