A Helping Hand

Holidays have always challenged us to take up activities to give back part of what we have earned through the year (in terms of money, good deeds or professional growth) to the community and society as a whole. We are committed to achieving this the way we can – voluntarily and for free, without expecting anything in return.

In line with the general mood, our friends at Agency for Control of Outstanding Debts were able to make a long-planned dream come true – lend a helping hand to kids living in the ZAEDNO (Together) home, maintained by the Protected House foundation headed by Mr. Dimitar Tzvetkov. The building is situated in the village of Gurmazovo, Bozhurishte municipality and for yet another year it has secured shelter, food, education and vocational training to six adult former residents of institutions for children deprived of parental care.

The building was set up in 2008 and has wonderful amenities, where the young people make their first steps in life after leaving the institution. For many of them, this is a difficult start since it is the first time ever they don’t need to rely on the caregivers they have grown up with. And many of them don’t have even the basic skills for living a full-bodied, independent life.

Apart from inhabiting a protected house, these young people have the opportunity to constantly develop their professional and personal skills with the help of partnership foundations – friends of the foundation. Most of the children even have their own first job and access to valuable advice on ways to improve their skills and spend their salaries, so they can save money for their first independent rented place.

Our colleagues at Agency for Control of Outstanding Debts also gave their contribution to the cause by personally delivering items of first necessity such as warm clothes for the Christmas and New Year holidays, a dryer and fuel for the foundation’s bus used to transport the children to important places such as the St. Dimitar Monsatery in the village of Gorni Lozen, and the Giginski Monastery, where they help the nuns do some of the harder physical work. Apart from material support, Agency for Control of Outstanding Debts’s experts will hold training courses in financial literacy for the residents of the protected house absolutely voluntarily and in the long run, so they can be fully prepared for the challenges that life will bring once they start their individual path in life.

We welcome the noble initiative of our colleagues at Agency for Control of Outstanding Debts and wish them success in preparing the children for the challenges of life. Meanwhile, we talked personally to Tervel Kanchev and asked him about his company’s motives to back this particular cause:

Mr. Kanchev, what was the inspiration behind your decision to become partner of the ZAEDNO Protected House in the village of Gurmazovo? I met one of the kids living in the building by chance this year and his personal story inspired me. He wakes up early every morning, cycles to work, comes back in the evening and goes to evening lessons in a professional high school so he can complete his secondary education. In this process, he does not need to worry about everyday things like paying his rent or securing his food. His goal is to complete his education and move proudly forward in life afterwards. Many of these kids not only succeed in finishing high school, but also go to university. Still, in general, all of them need help – not just material, but also educational. This is where we step in – we give these children an opportunity to have an equal start through our courses in financial literacy. We do it with a long-run vision, which means that the beneficiaries will be not only the current residents of the house, but also all future residents. Our goal is to help these children become actively involved in public life after they leave the protected house.

Are all company employees engaged in this cause? Participation in this initiative is not mandatory for our employees but we hope to attract as many people as possible. Our colleagues have already expressed their wish to provide material support to the children, to meet them and even just talk to them. Offer them some advice – financial and friendly.

Do you believe that the social policy of a company makes it a better employer? Of course. Not only a better and more engaged employer, but also an opinion leader. It makes a company an inspirer for its employees since many people really want to help other people in need but don’t know how to do it. Because in the end of the day, our goal is not just to do a particular amount of work and get paid for it. Our goal is to change the society for the better while doing our job.

The Agency for Control of Outstanding Debts is a financial institution active in the field of outstanding debt collection. The company’s goal is to unite all activities, permitted by Bulgarian law, in the field of collecting outstanding debts with various periods of default. The company’s mission is to negotiate and sign agreements with its partners’ clients, experiencing financial difficulties and temporary default. The Agency for Control of Outstanding Debts was set up in Bulgaria in 2016 by a team of professionals with long-year experience in collecting outstanding debts. In January 2019, the company grew its operations and penetrated one more market – the Romanian.