Greece’s economic depression has pushed families to the brink. As of the fall of 2013, one in five households and nearly 600,000 children were living below the poverty line. Nearly half of all Greeks lack health insurance. These staggering numbers cannot communicate the impact on individuals and families. In the face of unrelenting austerity and government budget cuts, it is nonprofits on the ground that are repeatedly called on to do more with less.
THI, together with its relief partners, is answering the call by providing a critical safety net to families hardest hit by the crisis. These partner organizations are carefully selected based on proven track record, efficiency and transparency. Initial partners include:
With THI funds, Apiceuticals delivered 560 beehives to beekeepers in Laconia and Evia, to restart their honey production businesses which had been lost in the 2021 wildfires. Over 65% of beehives in Laconia and 25% of beehives in Evia were restored through THI’s gift.
THI funds supported Mila Mou, an online platform which provides free telehealth mental health services to any Greek citizen. Since its launch in 2020, Breathe has facilitated over 33,000 online appointments and received over 600,000 visits to its website. THI funds also supported a digital and TV awareness campaign in partnership with Greece’s Ministry of Health.
THI funds sponsored CPF’s ‘From Movies to Cyclades Movement’ initiative. This initiative created a series of environmental movies on topics including inspiring local populations and tourists to take small steps to protect the Cycladic islands, to environmental training videos for those actively engaged in environmental protection and monitoring initiatives to protect the Cycladic sea and land. The funds to support this gift were raised at THI’s 2022 London Gala.
THI funds supported the ELEPAP Family Support program, aimed at providing financial aid to families who cannot support their children’s medical care. In total, 22 families received monthly stipends for a period of one year.
THI funds were used for targeted purchases supporting FBG’s Emergency Food Fund. FBG’s donations received are sometimes lacking in certain nutritional areas, including milk, cereals, legumes, rice, tomato paste and olive oil. Those items were purchased with THI funds and had the equivalent nutritional value of 254,000 meals and 40,000 glasses of milk.
With THI’s gift, FoodOn hired a full-time project manager. The Project Manager’s job is to expand FoodOn’s network of partners and job training offerings offerings to help its beneficiaries reenter the workforce.
In 2022, THI ordered 5 pick-up trucks to be donated to the Greek Fire Service. While effective, the Fire Services is lacking in equipment in certain remote and fire-prone areas, where the additional trucks can have an impact in future years.
THI funds supported a Beach Clean Up mission organized by NHSA in Heraklion, Crete in the summer of 2022. Over 30 students participated in removing over 700 pounds of trash from Cretan beaches.
Through THI’s Plant A Tree In Greece program, we planted 4,200 trees in Evia and Attika in 2022, with an additional 10,500 scheduled to be planted in the first quarter of 2023. The 4,200 trees were planted in Evia (Rovies, Limni, Papades, Kerasia, Skepasti, Ayia Anna and Achladi) and in Attika (Peania). The trees to be planted in first quarter of 2023 will be planted in Evia, Chios, and Attika (Varimpompi).
THI funds supported the organization’s ‘Hope Boxes’ program. Every ‘Hope Box’ contains approximately 13 pounds of food supplies. WiseGreece distributed over 6 tons of food in Hope Boxes to needy families in Pireas and Athens, with products including handmade jams, pasta, flour, legumes etc. The funds were raised during THI’s 2022 Easter Appeal.
In response to the War in Ukraine, THI made specialized gifts providing relief to the over 30,000 Ukrainian refugees who fled to Greece from their war-torn country.
TfC launched the ‘Irina’ shelter in downtown Athens for homeless Ukrainian women with their children. THI funds supported the operations of this shelter for up to 20 people for 6 months. THI funds provided shelter, food, and access to physical and mental health services.
THI’s grant supported improved molecular analysis techniques, offering better diagnosis and stratification to patients. The funds covered expenses associated with purchasing real time PCR equipment, lab consumables for NGS analysis of cancer predisposition syndromes, and the salary of a bioinformatician.
THI’s grant supported METAdrasi’s Dormitory Unit in downtown Athens, offering a shelter to any homeless minor living in the city as well as to asylum-seeking children and refugees. The dormitory has the capacity to host 56 children in a multi-floor building. It operates 24/7, providing meals, access to healthcare, hygiene kits and clothing as well as support by a group of experienced caregivers.
In many remote areas of Greece, civilian landowners provide the first line of defense against wildfires – hours and even days before professional firefighting teams can reach the crisis. Desmos identified seven Forest Firefighting Volunteer Teams (FFVT) in Evia. THI’s gift provided much-needed firefighting equipment including helmets, gloves, masks with filters, special uniforms, boots, fireproof hoods, fire pumps, suction hoses, electric generators, chainsaws and first aid kits. The regions in Evia served are Amarynthos, Kallithea, Ano Vathia, Konistres, Limni, Marmari, Psachna, Prokopi, and Styra.
In response to the War in Ukraine, THI made specialized gifts providing relief to the over 30,000 Ukrainian refugees who fled to Greece from their war-torn country.
THI funds were used to purchase vouchers for the families residing in SOS Villages’ shelter in Athens. These vouchers covered the families’ food and (NFI) Non-Food Item – related needs. In total, the program supported 115 beneficiaries, mainly single mother families.
Entrepreneurs are critical to economic recovery and renewal — they are creating opportunity today and providing role models to change the hopes and aspirations of a new generation. By reigniting the Greek entrepreneurial spirit we can unleash a wave of innovation and creation, slowing the “brain drain” of young professionals by giving them a reason to stay in Greece and transform ideas into successful businesses.
The Connect the Dots platform currently engages 87 users registered primarily from the United States and Greece. The mentoring sessions bring together startups ready to scale up with exceptional young professionals willing to invest their time to help these companies succeed.
Since its launch in 2018, Cyprus Seeds has supported 13 research teams. Three companies in the Cyprus Seeds Program have had commercialization events. Two companies have spun out of the public University setting (the first of their kind in Cyprus). The third secured two sponsored research agreements totaling $500,000 of funding and optional licensing agreements with two biotech companies based in the United States.
THI was one of the main sponsors of a large concert given in Athens Megaron Music Hall in May 2022. THI funds will also support the orchestra’s 2023 summer tour, including appearances at the Corfu International Festival, and Young Euro Classic Festival in Berlin.
THI’s grant funded Odyssea’s operations and provided funds for training and placement. Odyssea’s goal is to place 45% of its clients in jobs.
THI funds were used in support of employability and enterprise projects based on Crete and the Dodecanese islands to support young people not in employment, education or training to find work or start their own businesses. The target is to support over 200 young people (aged 18-35) – with 70% of them achieving a positive outcome – to either become employed, move into education or start a business. The funds for this grant were raised at THI’s 2022 London Gala.
THI funds were used to cover expenses associated with structuring, framework and launching the Stewards model in year 2023.
The Venture Impact Awards were held in 2020, 2021 and 2022, and have supported a total of 37 winners with $645,000 in prize funding. The winning teams have represented a wide array of sectors important to the Greek economy including agro/food, environment, computer science, education, recycling/upcycling, healthcare, eco-mobility, bio composite materials, cosmetics, social innovation and microfinance.
Since its inception in 2014, ReGeneration has facilitated over 3,700 hirings, collaborating with more than 1,400 companies as hiring partners, thereby unlocking over 30 million EUR in salaries. The program’s impact extends beyond these numbers, encompassing approximately 800,000 hours of soft and hard skills training and 420,000 hours dedicated to upskilling and reskilling through the various ReGeneration Academies.
The Venture Fair is a THI-founded annual competition in Athens m which brings together investors from across the globe for a pitching event featuring a selection of Greece’s most promising startups. Companies seeking to raise $2-5M are selected from applicants across Greece. THI trains the teams to prepare their pitch decks and presentations. Since 2015, THI has held six Venture Fairs. In 2022, P.P.C. (DEH), the Greek Power Company, co-sponsored the Venture Fair prize with THI.
Greece can grow its way out of this crisis, but growth requires vision, capability and capital. Amidst the troubling headlines and statistics, there are viable businesses that can grow with our collective investment, creating jobs and delivering solid returns for investors. And there are visionary leaders eager to build companies and indeed an economy on stronger, more sustainable foundations. THI is investing in the future by supporting two initiatives that promote near-term job growth while laying the foundations for long-term strategic development:
The Hellenic Investment Fund is an impact investment fund targeting a “double bottom line” of investment returns and job growth. The fund will provide growth equity to small and midsized companies that are the backbone of the Greek economy and whose success is critical to fueling its recovery. Many THI board members are anchor investors, but it is a standalone, for-profit fund and THI will have no management or investment authority.
ReGeneration is the newest program in the THI Economic Development constellation. It is a 6-month practical training program (internship) offering multi-faceted work experience, meaningful training from certified trainers, and multiple opportunities for self-improvement and personal development.
The Australian Internship Program will work in partnership with the ground breaking ReGeneration program in Greece to find candidates for these unique opportunities.
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