About Barka Foundation

The beginnings of the Barka Mutual Aid Foundation date back to June 1989, when married couple of psychologists Barbara and Tomasz Sadowski, in response to the growing social problems of the transformation period, wanted to create social environment and structure in which “forgotten and unwanted” members of Polish society would have a chance for personal and social development. The basis of Barka’s work is building a culture of solidarity, based on mutual help, as well as interpersonal and social relations.

During the past 30 years, a complementary system of assistance of socially excluded and marginalized people has been developed, including:

• Community houses program
• Educational and reintegration program on the basis of which the Social Employment Act was created in Poland
• Program for creating new jobs and social cooperatives for the long-term unemployed
• Accessible construction program
• Program for the development of local partnerships for social inclusion
• The Program for the Development of the International Barka Network (Barka Polska, Barka UK, Barka Netherlands, Barka Ireland, Barka Germany, Barka Iceland, Barka Canada).