SOS Children's Villages is expanding in Saxony. Approximately 18 million euros have been invested in a new facility in the Connewitz district of Leipzig, according to the organization. The facility offers a family center as well as emergency foster care services for children aged six to twelve who need short-term protection and care.
In addition, there are two residential groups, each for eight children and adolescents who cannot live with their parents, the organization said. The first residential group moved in in March, and the second is set to follow shortly. Another pillar of the facility is a kindergarten that has been open for more than a year.
The concept of SOS Children’s Villages is more than 70 years old. The first was founded in Tyrol in 1949, primarily to offer war orphans a new family. In Germany, the idea found followers starting in 1956. The Children’s Village Center in Leipzig is the second location in Saxony. There is another one in Zwickau. The children’s village there was the first in East Germany in 1991.
