Social (Business) Innovations
Microfinance
Grameen Bank in Bangladesh: Groups of five women are built, each one to obtain a microloan to start a small business. The social business is completely dedicated to the benefit of the public. The model can be replicated in each country, the organisation Grameen Trust is responsible for setting it up in other countries (also industialized ones, like US). Grameen Bank also has a microloan programm for beggars (no interest rate).
http://grameenbank.org.bd
Grameen Trust:
https://grameentrust.org
Grameen America in the USA:
Same group system as in Bangladesh, a borrower receives up to 2000 US $ each. Grameen America also offers a healthcare programm to women with health workers delivering basic health services (blood pressure measurement, dental screening, cancer consultation...) and conducting workshops.
https://www.grameenamerica.org
Grameen Australia:
Same group system of five, borrowers receive between 1000 and 4500 Australian Dollar for setting up a microenterprise:
https://grameen.org.au
Marginalized people (ex-prisoners, ex-addicts,...)
A gardener company in Pistoia, Italy, has founded a social business, which uses the group-system of 5 to train marginalized people. The group leader is an employee of the company, the four other group members are the beneficiaries. In this way, the beneficiaries get a chance to become a gardener, besides the group formation leads to peer support and a daily structure.
http://www.giardineriaitaliana.it
Homelessness
The "housing first" concept is based on the assumption that homelessness is best solved through providing housing at first independently from related problems like drug addiction:
https://endhomelessness.org/resource/housing-first/
"Mobile loaves and fishes" in Texas has created a Community first! village encompassing tiny houses, food and clothes services and microentrepreneurship opportunities for the homeless:
https://mlf.org/community-first/
The coldness busses ("Kältebus") in Germany offer warm meals and sanitary products to homeless people during the winter in cities like Munic:
https://kaeltebus-muenchen.de
The German organisation "fifty-fifty" offers a variety of services to homeless people, among those are projects with art, helping their dogs, "alternative sight-seeing", a good-night bus offering meals:
https://www.fiftyfifty-galerie.de/projekte/
Iglous are winter tents:
https://www.iglou.world/en/
Gobanyo has built a bus including three showers for homeless people offering them the sanitation in German City Hamburg:
https://gobanyo.org/duschen
Mobile clinics for dental health care support access in the UK:
https://www.socialenterprise.org.uk/member-updates/mobile-clinics-bring-dental-care-to-people-who-are-homeless/
Greater Change is a charity in the UK providing individual funding in terms of the specific needs of a person (this can be training, health, equipment for a job,...):
https://www.greaterchange.co.uk
German city Viersen has installed a unit of lockerboxes for homeless, so that they can store their belongings safely (they have to deposit 10 euros for the key, but its use is free of charge):
https://www.viersen.de/de/mitteilung/schliessfaecher-fuer-obdachlose-menschen/
Employment in Ghana
Mybamboo is a German company building bikes from bamboo imported from Ghana and using parts of the profits for education projects:
https://www.my-boo.de
Nursing College in Bangladesh
Grameen Caledonian is a joint venture of Grameen Healthcare and the Glasgow Caledonian University, UK. Adelphi University in NY, USA, is a cooperating partner, too. Young Bangladeshi people are trained as nurses and support the healthcare sector in Bangladesh.
https://gccn.ac.bd
Grameen Bank in Bangladesh: Groups of five women are built, each one to obtain a microloan to start a small business. The social business is completely dedicated to the benefit of the public. The model can be replicated in each country, the organisation Grameen Trust is responsible for setting it up in other countries (also industialized ones, like US). Grameen Bank also has a microloan programm for beggars (no interest rate).
http://grameenbank.org.bd
Grameen Trust:
https://grameentrust.org
Grameen America in the USA:
Same group system as in Bangladesh, a borrower receives up to 2000 US $ each. Grameen America also offers a healthcare programm to women with health workers delivering basic health services (blood pressure measurement, dental screening, cancer consultation...) and conducting workshops.
https://www.grameenamerica.org
Grameen Australia:
Same group system of five, borrowers receive between 1000 and 4500 Australian Dollar for setting up a microenterprise:
https://grameen.org.au
Marginalized people (ex-prisoners, ex-addicts,...)
A gardener company in Pistoia, Italy, has founded a social business, which uses the group-system of 5 to train marginalized people. The group leader is an employee of the company, the four other group members are the beneficiaries. In this way, the beneficiaries get a chance to become a gardener, besides the group formation leads to peer support and a daily structure.
http://www.giardineriaitaliana.it
Homelessness
The "housing first" concept is based on the assumption that homelessness is best solved through providing housing at first independently from related problems like drug addiction:
https://endhomelessness.org/resource/housing-first/
"Mobile loaves and fishes" in Texas has created a Community first! village encompassing tiny houses, food and clothes services and microentrepreneurship opportunities for the homeless:
https://mlf.org/community-first/
The coldness busses ("Kältebus") in Germany offer warm meals and sanitary products to homeless people during the winter in cities like Munic:
https://kaeltebus-muenchen.de
The German organisation "fifty-fifty" offers a variety of services to homeless people, among those are projects with art, helping their dogs, "alternative sight-seeing", a good-night bus offering meals:
https://www.fiftyfifty-galerie.de/projekte/
Iglous are winter tents:
https://www.iglou.world/en/
Gobanyo has built a bus including three showers for homeless people offering them the sanitation in German City Hamburg:
https://gobanyo.org/duschen
Mobile clinics for dental health care support access in the UK:
https://www.socialenterprise.org.uk/member-updates/mobile-clinics-bring-dental-care-to-people-who-are-homeless/
Greater Change is a charity in the UK providing individual funding in terms of the specific needs of a person (this can be training, health, equipment for a job,...):
https://www.greaterchange.co.uk
German city Viersen has installed a unit of lockerboxes for homeless, so that they can store their belongings safely (they have to deposit 10 euros for the key, but its use is free of charge):
https://www.viersen.de/de/mitteilung/schliessfaecher-fuer-obdachlose-menschen/
Employment in Ghana
Mybamboo is a German company building bikes from bamboo imported from Ghana and using parts of the profits for education projects:
https://www.my-boo.de
Nursing College in Bangladesh
Grameen Caledonian is a joint venture of Grameen Healthcare and the Glasgow Caledonian University, UK. Adelphi University in NY, USA, is a cooperating partner, too. Young Bangladeshi people are trained as nurses and support the healthcare sector in Bangladesh.
https://gccn.ac.bd
