About Us

The Romodrom civic association was established in Prague in 2001 by the association's chairwoman Marie Gailová in connection with the “Brickyard” case.

 

OUR MOTTO:
“We know our path.” „Džanas peskero drom.“

 

HISTORY OF THE CIVIC ASSOCIATION'S CREATION

At that time there was ghetto in Prague 22 – Uhříněves where 15 Roma families lived in sheds and garages which used to be part of the former brickyard. These families lived and raised their children for several years under dismal conditions: without drinking water, power, gas, and sewerage. The “Brickyard's” inhabitants suffered not only material need, but also a sense of exclusion from normal life. The cause of this situation was the loss of their employment at the bankrupt brickyard and the accommodation that came with it.

Marie Gailová became a Roma field worker in this part of the city in 2000 and decided to seek a solution to this situation. The first step was to gain the “Brickyard's” inhabitants' trust, and so Marie Gailová spent several months visiting the ghetto and talking especially to the women and children. She would gradually gain the trust of the male part of the population as well, which opened the path to a gradual solution to their situation completely.

The first task was to solve housing situation of the families. In cooperation with the Prague 22 – Uhříněves City Office, some of the families were gradually accommodated in Integrated Accommodation House of Prague 22. Inhabitants with Slovak citizenship were provided with a paid for trip to their place of permanent residence and temporary accommodation in asylum houses in Slovakia.

This is how the work to solve the individual families' social problems in a complex manner and find a way for them to return into society began.

 

WHAT WE STRIVE FOR

The Romodrom civic association was established in 2001 as a voluntary non-governmental non-profit organization with the aim of helping especially people of Roma ethnicity. We soon found out however that the issue of social exclusion is not limited solely to the Roma population, but constitutes a much wider issue and includes a significantly larger number of people.

Our main goal is to help these people seek a solution in their uneasy life situations and strengthen their competencies in controlling their own destinies. For this purpose, we provide social services which consist of field programmes, social rehabilitation, social activation services for families with children, and professional social counselling, as well as social projects aimed at debt counselling, employment support, housing, childcare, or education. The mentioned projects and services are provided not only in Prague, where the association was established and is located, but also already in eight regions of the Czech Republic.                               

Due to the change in law and the termination of civic associations, the Romodrom civic association (o.s.) became a public service company – Romdrom o.p.s. – as of 11. 2. 2014.
 

OUR MISSION: 

“Promoting the rights and integration of people who are socially excluded or in danger of social exclusion.”

 

IN FULFILLING OUR MISSION, WE FOLLOW MAINLY THE FOLLOWING PRINCPIPLES:

• get to know the environment in which the family lives well
• take the specific conditions in these families into consideration in our work
• understand the causes of the unfavourable situation
• solve the social situation in a complex manner as a set of related causes and effects
• seek such solutions that will lead to the client's autonomy

 

Our work is possible only thanks to the support of supporters and partners of our public service company. We therefore express our gratitude to everyone who cooperate with us and thus contribute to finding a path for people who have found themselves on the edge of society.