Váltó-sávAlapítvány(ChangeLanesFoundation)
Address: 1085 Budapest, Pál str. 2.   II/10.
Tel.:+36-1-352-6755
Fax: +36-1-782-1995
e-mail:alapitvany@valtosav.hu
Professional manager: Mercédesz Mészáros (tel:+3670-501-3291)

"You change as everyone and everything changes continuously."

 The Change Lanes Foundation

 The Change Lanes Foundation is dedicated to the assistance of prisoners, released offenders and those with a criminal record in their reintegration in the society and the labour market, as well as increasing their chances of life. In our programme and projects, we primarily deal with young people between sixteen and thirty-five years of age. The core of our activity lies in continuous (after)care and the operation of a civil helping system. According to our belief and experiences, building of secure human/helping/civil relationships in the penal institution, gaining of confidence, the establishment of continuous emotional security and the assistance of an accepting community are vital issues in the reduction of the crisis of release and in the prevention of re-offence.

Activities:

• Assisting in the preparation for the secondary school leaving exam, improving the chances of re-integration;
• Organizing, operating and maintaining a special, personality-based learning -teaching programme for first-offenders and young people with a criminal lifestyle
• Recognizing, realizing and reinforcing individual abilities;
• Psycho-social treatment of personal problems; mental-hygienic care;
• Lifestyle assistance;
• Organizing, operating and maintaining special helping-problem solving groups supporting the re-integration in the society
• Crime prevention; organizing and managing informative discussions on prevention;
• Operating a civil support system;
• Providing continuous after-care
• Preventing the process of prison socialization;
• Involving ex-offenders in caring work - as far as possible - and supporting their training in helping work;
• Family care;
• Organizing professional meetings, coordinating methodology exchange;
• Methodological and research work concerning deviance and its possible treatments, with special respect to criminal lifestyle;
• Organizing spare time and community activities.

 Currently, we are dealing with 25 people in our educational/re-integration programme, while our other training/re-integration program concerns about 80 young people.

 The staff of the Change Lanes Foundation consists of six people at the moment.

Breakdown by qualification: secondary school teacher, social worker, social teacher, expert in social politics, public educator, qualified narcology assistant.

In consequence of its national activity, the Foundation has a Coordination Agreement with the National Headquarters of the Prison Administration.

 „You help me in every lesson because you don’t just teach me but really care about my life here. Talking to you is good; it soothes me because I can forget this place for that half an hour.”

 Project of the Changing Lanes Fund:

Within penal institutions and after release
- Changing Program - helping work and providing secondary education for detained and released youth
- Social work in prison administration and aftercare
Within penal  institutions:
- Preparation for release for young people in penal institutions
- Peer/social support training for young people in penal institutions
After  release:
- Changing Lanes Information Basis Project

- Family Group
- Crime prevention with the involvement of ex-offenders

- "Job coaching"–employment of ex-criminal youth and support reintegration in the labour market.

 „It is clear that you don’t come heet for nothing  but you really care about us and our opinions.”

 „And you didn’t treat us as criminals; you don’t come here  only because you have to but as one man to another. Humanely.”

In what ways can we help you?

According to our experiences, release from prison is a pleasant but also difficult moment and process. Therefore, it should be pre-prepared carefully while in the penal institution and free life should be pre-planned. It is vital to think about housing, possibilities of finding a job and workplace, plans referring to managing money, family issues and other human relationships, possibilities of training and education. The gathering of the necessary documents (identity card, address card, health insurance card, tax card etc.) takes a lot of administration. The Changing Lanes Foundation provides help in:

• housing problems
• work and job issues
• gathering of documents
• money handling issues
• providing information concerning individual situations and questions

What we cannot provide:

Financial resources

We welcome those who really want to change and need our help!