The Off Road Kids Foundation is able to expand its range of offerings in Cologne, thanks to brokerage services provided by Greif & Contzen: the property experts arranged for a letting contract for around 830 square metres of space in the city centre. The premises were handed over to the foundation at short notice and will be used to provide advice to young people who are at risk of becoming homeless. The Off Road Kids Foundation’s PREJOB programme is also based in the new space. The objective of the programme is to provide guidance to young people without school-leaving qualifications to help them establish a stable life situation, as well as to obtain secondary school and vocational qualifications.

Off Road Kids is a private aid initiative that takes care of young people who are at risk of becoming homeless. The foundation has long outgrown its street work station on Neumarkt which was established in 2005. The new facilities on ‘Unter Sachsenhausen 37’ are located between Komödienstrasse and Börsenplatz, and are five times the size of the old space.

The Off Road Kids street workers are active in Cologne and four other German cities. The foundation’s social workers are out and about to talk to young people directly, and the foundation also offers support and guidance for finding housing, as well as education and training programmes for people aged up to 27. In addition to short-term help, the foundation’s objective is to get the youngsters off the street on the long run, and to help them settle in robust social structures that enable them to look after themselves. The branches in Germany’s metropolitan areas are supplemented by nationwide offerings available via the virtual online facility ‘Sofahopper.de’. More than 1,300 young people were housed in Cologne alone in recent years, and between 70 and 80 youths receive support every month.

The Off Road Kids Foundation is endorsed by various sponsors from the real estate sector, and the new space is being set up and refurbished by benefactors from the industry.