PULSE Foundation was established on 7th July 1999 in the town of Pernik. The idea to have an organization for working with victims of violence, based in Pernik, was born in 1998, at a time when our team was trained in skills for managing psycho-social services in the community and clinical skills for working with mental trauma. At the same time, in post-totalitarian Bulgarian society, the topic of domestic violence was still taboo, the individual's experiences were irrelevant, human suffering was not really that important, and the rights of women and children were still abstract discourses.
Our first quarterly project was funded by the "Knowledge, Success, Change" program of Charity Know How, UK. This financial support made possible the establishment of a center in Pernik to support women victims of domestic violence, providing professional psychological and social services to clients. Subsequently, the focus of work was expanded and the first programs for working with children and adolescents were launched.
Changes in attitudes and the value system, as well as the nascent civil society and legal reform in Bulgaria, led to the entry into force of the Domestic Violence Protection Act (DVPA) in 2005. This has greatly facilitated our actions to provide legal protection to victims of domestic violence. The existing legal protection program from the very beginning of the organization was significantly improved with this amendment in the Bulgarian legislation. Since 2009, PULSЕ Foundation is a member of the Bulgarian Alliance for Protection from Domestic Violence - a network of 10 Bulgarian NGOs, united for the purposes of legal reform, lobbying at the governmental, institutional and legislative level and promoting and establishing good practices for the protection of victims of domestic violence.
Another aspect was added to the work with the development of a program to support families (biological, foster, adoptive), aimed at prevention of child abuse, development of parenting skills, and prevention of abandonment. PULSЕ Foundation is a member of the National Network for Children. An association that unites more than 100 organizations supporting children and families in Bulgaria.
In 2003, our organization took on a new challenge - the establishment of a service for the prevention of HIV and AIDS among intravenous drug users in the Pernik region. In April 2004, an outreach team was launched to exchange sterile injectable materials and disseminate information materials on safe injecting and sexual practices. This initiative was implemented with the support of local authorities and institutions and the financial support of the Ministry of Health through the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS and Malaria. Later on, the focus of the program was extended to the target group of the youth population and tuberculosis prevention was added.
In 2008, PULSE Foundation launched the Crisis Center for Accommodation of Victims of Violence, which since 2010 has been funded as a state-delegated service in the community. The capacity of the crisis center is 12 beds.
PULSE Foundation currently works in two main areas:
- Center for Rehabilitation and Integration of Victims of Violence and / or Trafficking in Human Beings
- Violence prevention program
This experience, the efforts made and the results achieved make us proud and responsible to the community, clients, donors and partners.
The following programs have been developed and are functioning in the PULSE Foundation.
- Psychosocial care for victims of domestic violence, sexual violence and/or trafficking in human beings
- Psychosocial care for children and young people who have experienced violence
- Family support program
- Prevention of violence through non-formal education and training in specific skills
- Prevention of violence through non-formal education and training in specific skills
- Legal protection of victims of violence
- Crisis center for victims of violence
- Transitional housing for victims of violence
- Youth Club "To be friends" - a youth program for volunteering, developing civic skills, zero tolerance for violence, mediation and peer-to-peer training