The HOME Project (“Help, Overcome, Motivate and Empower) ¹ is a Greece-based advocacy group that aims to “eliminate the child protection gap for unaccompanied refugee children in the country.” ² The group provides a variety of services to unaccompanied minors whose lives have been affected by persecution or war, including assistance in developing critical life skills, education, mental health support and legal assistance. ³

Since its establishment in 2016 by the Libra Group, an international, privately-owned business, the HOME Project has helped about 1,000 children. ^{4 5}

Background

As of 2025, the HOME Project maintained 13 homes in central Athens for refugee children. ⁶

The Child Protection Unit creates “Individual Development Plans” for every child in the group’s care, covering both short and long-term needs. The four pillars of the HOME Project’s child protection model are access to education, mental health support, legal support, and life skills and socialization. ⁶

The Libra Group established the Home Project in December 2016 and in its first two years claimed to have served over 300 children in 11 homes. The project had three missions: first, to provide unaccompanied minors with  educational, medical, and legal services; second, to bring unused buildings back to life by turning them into shelters; and third, to provide jobs for Greeks and migrants by renovating such buildings. ⁷

The HOME Project won Child 10’s annual award in 2020, for which it received funding and networking assistance to connect with organizations pursuing similar goals. ⁸

Financials

The Ikea Foundation donated €50,000 (approximately $56,000) in April 2024 to the HOME Project. ^{9 10} In 2023, the HOME Project reported €4,587,072.02 (approximately $5.1 million) in total assets, €393,694.72 (approximately $440,000) in total liabilities and €4,157,250.22 (approximately $4.6 million) in total net worth. ¹⁰

The Shapiro Foundation sponsored 18 full-time scholarships in the 2018-2019 academic year for the American Community School (ACS Athens) and did so again in the 2019-2020 school year. ACS Athens and the HOME Project began a partnership in 2016. ^{4 11}

In 2019, the Hellenic Initiative donated $32,400 to cover part of the children’s psychiatric supervision and a part-time psychologist for a full year. ⁷

Some 61 percent of the Home Project’s funding comes from European Union and public funding. Another 33 percent comes from trusts and foundations and the remaining six percent comes from individual donors and corporations. The HOME Project allocates 89 percent of its budget to child protection services, 10 percent to “management/general” and the remaining one percent to fundraising and marketing. ¹²

The HOME Project also lists the Government of the Netherlands among its supporters. ¹³

Leadership

As of 2025, Sofia Kouvelaki was the chief executive officer of the Home Project, Maria Kaldani was its chief operating officer, and Nikolaos Kokkaris was its chief financial officer. ¹⁴

Kouvelaki and Kaldani both have worked with the United Nations (UN), Kouvelaki at the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) in the economic analysis and social policy division and Kaldani as a member of working groups at the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. ^{15 16}

Kouvelaki was chosen to be a member of the first cohort of the Obama Foundation Europe Leaders Program. ¹⁷

As of 2025, Per Heggenes was the chairman of the board of directors. ¹⁸ He has worked as CEO of IKEA Foundation. ¹⁹

As of 2025, Danish Ambassador Klavs A. Holm was an advisory board member of the Home Project. ^{20 21}

1. “The HOME Project – Supporting Refugees and Vulnerable Children – Libra Group.” Libra Group, December 19 2016. Accessed April 20, 2025 www.libra.com/news-and-insights/the-home-project-a-new-libra-group-initiative-to-support-refugees-and-vulnerable-children/
2. “The HOME Project.” Homeproject.org, 2016, www.homeproject.org/en/what-we-do/our-work/.
3. “The HOME Project.” Homeproject.org, 2016, www.homeproject.org/en/about-us/.
4. “The American Community Schools of Athens and the Shapiro Foundation Transform the Lives of Children of the HOME Project.” ACS Athens V2, 19 July 2018, www.acs.gr/news_events_partnerships/arthro/the_american_community_schools_of_athens_and_the_shapiro_foundation_transform_the_lives_of_children_of_the_home_project-11/.
5. “Greece» the Yaqar Project.” The Yaqar Project, 9 June 2023, https://www.theyaqarproject.org/greece.
6. “The HOME Project.” Homeproject.org, 2016, www.homeproject.org/en/what-we-do/child-protection-model/.
7. “The Hellenic Initiative Supports the HOME Project by Granting $32,400 – Libra Group.” Libra Group, 29 Jan. 2019, www.libra.com/news-and-insights/thi-donation-to-home-project/.
8. “HOME Project Greece Receives 2020 Child 10 Award for Protection of Refugee Children | ChildHub – Child Protection Hub.” Childhub.org, 22 Oct. 2019, www.childhub.org/en/child-protection-news/greece-home-project-greece-receives-2020-child-10-award-protection-refugee.
9. “Donation: The Home Project – IKEA Foundation.” IKEA Foundation, 2024, https://www.ikeafoundation.org/grants/donation-the-home-project/.
10. Balance Sheet. 10 May 2024, www.homeproject.org/media/1978/the-home-project-financial-statement-2023-balance-sheet-in-english-signed.pdf.
11. “The HOME Project.” Homeproject.org, 2019, www.homeproject.org/en/on-the-ground/our-newsroom/the-shapiro-foundation-grants-18-full-time-scholarships-to-the-home-project-children/.
12. “The HOME Project.” Homeproject.org, 2025, www.homeproject.org/en/about-us/accountability/
13. “The HOME Project.” Homeproject.org, 2016, www.homeproject.org/en/get-involved/our-supporters/.
14. “The HOME Project.” Homeproject.org, 2025, www.homeproject.org/en/who-we-are/our-management-team/.
15. ​​“The HOME Project.” Homeproject.org, 2025, https://www.homeproject.org/en/who-we-are/our-management-team/sofia-kouvelaki/
16.  “The HOME Project.” Homeproject.org, 2025, https://www.homeproject.org/en/who-we-are/our-management-team/maria-kaldani/
17. “The HOME Project.” Homeproject.org, 2025, https://www.homeproject.org/en/what-we-do/recognition/
18. “The HOME Project.” Homeproject.org, 2025, https://www.homeproject.org/en/who-we-are/our-board-of-directors/
19. “The HOME Project.” Homeproject.org, 2025, https://www.homeproject.org/en/who-we-are/our-board-of-directors/per-heggenes/
20. “The HOME Project.” Homeproject.org, 2025, https://www.homeproject.org/en/who-we-are/our-advisory-board/ambassador-klavs-a-holm/
21. “SAO Interview: Klavs Holm from the Kingdom of Denmark.” Arctic Council, 11 Oct. 2012, https://www.arctic-council.org/news/sao-interview-klavs-holm-from-the-kingdom-of-denmark/.