Good practice:

ARGO SOCIAL ENTERPRISE

ARGO aims to educate and prevent “healed" addicts from relapsing by the help of urban farming. The relapse often occurs after the completion of a therapeutic program. Factors such as unemployment play a key role for the relapse to occur. In order to tackle with these situations the former patients are given the chance to work in a team and get a financial support through ARGO. Therefore one of its key goals is to foster reintegration to society and provide equal job opportunities for healed addicts. The series of educational seminars, trainings and recruitment in ARGO’s activities reduce potential risks and empower new skills and talents. Until now, these activities include urban farming, recycling, second hand shop and a carpentry lab. The members have an equal role in the decision making process and are encouraged to develop their own projects. ARGO is a win-win process that creates job opportunities and offers education to former addicts so that they reintegrate in society. It also strengthens local communities, improves quality of life and fosters local value chains. In addition, important activities are carried out for better sustainability and resource efficiency, e.g. the Bio Agriculture activity of ARGO offers a basket with bio products from the farm. The farm was previously managed by the members of ARGO therapeutic program and now is managed by the social enterprise. The members of the therapeutic program are still actively involved with the farm.

The psychiatric hospital of Thessaloniki has supported ARGO by offering facilities and granting the management role for the farms. ARGO has 3 workers who are paid by the sale of the bio basket products. It is also supported by volunteers that are unpaid members of the social enterprise.

ARGO is both a successful start-up and a therapeutic programme based on urban farming. The programme starts only now to monitor its impacts on the rate of relapses, but first results are very positive. Members who have conducted the therapeutic program express interest to be actively involved in farming even as volunteers, since it promotes their sense of productivity, of accomplishment, socialization and upgrade of skills.

Finding all resources might be difficult (funding, facilities, cooperation partner).

ARGO is a good example on how to create positive social effects with minimum resources and “on the job” training. Its business activity offers job opportunities to people in sensitive social groups, who need to find their way back to the daily life. It also promotes volunteer work and support of the local community for social inclusion.
At the same time, members learn and practice sustainable activities, such as urban farming, thus promoting more resource efficient and organic lifestyle in the whole city.
In order to transfer the practice, it is important to find a platform e.g. entities or programs that share the same vision of a close knit community that is driven by solidarity and not profit. As social enterprise, ARGO uses its income to offer new job opportunities and engage active citizens as volunteers: these are either former patients by the therapeutic program, who have retained their healing results, or members of the local community.