NPO Partner presentation: Free Girls Movement & OIS.IN.AN

OIS•IN•AN – Genießen für den Guten Zweck: your support ist needed!

What does Free Girls Movement stand for? Where does OIS.IN.AN come from? 

Free Girls Movement was founded with the goal to support girls and women who are put at disadvantage, because of their gender, origin and level of education. This resulted in the project “Girls Helping Girls”. Through workshops participants receive necessary “tools” that they can use for an independent life in Austria. In addition, thanks to Student Buddies that support each girl / woman during the program, participants establish new relationships & networks. Nevertheless, some of the graduates were never able to find their own path, especially in the labour market, which is why we decided to take care of this ourselves. This is what led us to the “OIS.IN.AN”. It is a sustainable restaurant with a mission to create employment opportunities for disadvantaged women in Austria with a refugee and / or migration background.  

What are your current projects? 

We are fully consumed by OIS.IN.AN, it is taking up all our time and financial resources. In spring (depending on the Corona developments and financial situation) we plan to run again Girls Helping Girls. 

How is your work going during Corona? 

At the moment it is difficult as with OIS.IN.AN we are in the area of gastronomy & catering, so we are in a full lockdown. That’s why the Corona situation is hitting us extremely hard. Nevertheless, in November last year we faced the decision: open and start the project, or not. We did it and have survived so far, but without financial help from the government it is difficult to keep it going. That’s why we are trying to raise the necessary financial resources through crowdfunding to get through the next few weeks or months in the lockdown.

Would you like to expand your team? Are you looking for volunteers?

We are always open to new team members & volunteers. Currently we need support or simply exchange of experiences in the area of gastronomy. As soon as Girls Helping Girls is running again, we are always happy to have enough student buddies to give our participants a supporting hand. In return for volunteering, we give our volunteers an opportunity to take part in our workshop series themselves! 

What else do you need?

At the moment it is a race against time, because we have daily costs, especially the delivery and the packaging material (we make sure that it is biodegradable) are cost-intensive. We lack financial resources to cover it. Therefore, we are incredibly grateful for every single contribution to our crowdfunding. Here is the link to our project on Respekt.net: https://www.respekt.net/projekte-unterstuetzen/details/projekt/2099/