Groundbreaking ceremony SOS Children's Village Altmünster

67 years of family life with 1,150 children is the successful balance so far. Now it is time to renovate. The houses in the SOS Children's Village Altmünster no longer meet current educational and ecological standards. In order to be able to provide a loving home for future generations of children, most of the buildings have to be renovated during the three-year construction period. The ground-breaking ceremony marks the start of the first construction phase.

The renovation of the SOS Children's Village Altmünster is the largest construction project of SOS Children's Villages in Austria in the coming years. The decision to build the new village was preceded by a site evaluation and a site development process with internal and external stakeholders. The results encouraged SOS Children's Villages not only to maintain the SOS Children's Village Altmünster, but even to expand the care services for children, adolescents and their parents. The YES to the Altmünster location stands for up to 100 care places for young people in the future, 80 jobs (full-time equivalent), demand for kindergarten and school places, apprentices for local companies and regional purchasing power.

Strong participation

The participation of children and young people was given a lot of space in the planning of the new SOS Children's Village. But the staff, social and system partners as well as the market community of Altmünster were also involved.
Gerhard Pohl, head of the children's village: "The new SOS Children's Village Altmünster should be a place of joy and perspective that meets with broad approval."
Sustainable planning and construction
The new buildings and remodelling at the SOS Children's Village Altmünster meet the criteria of sustainability in many respects: they enable the implementation of a multifaceted programme for children, young people and parents, which is designed to respond flexibly and individually to the needs of future generations. Solid wood construction, the conversion of heating to biomass with pellets, photovoltaic cells on the FamilienRAThaus, a salt water reservoir for storing energy and less soil sealing significantly reduce the ecological footprint. The large and old tree population is preserved.

Expansion of tailor-made help

In the new SOS Children's Village Altmünster, existing, tried and tested services for children, young people and families will have their place, as well as new ones. The SOS Children's Village families, the socio-educational residential group, the crisis care place, the residential group for family strengthening and the youth centre will continue unchanged. Preventive parent-child living will be expanded and a completely new facility will be opened to accompany pupils during the week. The planned houses also offer a high degree of flexibility to meet individual needs. Thus, new units can be used as parent-child housing or as training housing for parents or young adults. Individual trauma pedagogical care for so-called "system offenders" is also possible. Another new feature is the therapy and leisure house, which ensures that young people receive exactly the therapeutic support they need. At the same time, there are many leisure activities such as a reading corner, music room, youth club, creative studio, etc. in this new house.