Sozialhelden e.V. is a registered

nonprofit organisation A nonprofit organization (NPO), also known as a nonbusiness entity, nonprofit institution, not-for-profit organization, or simply a nonprofit, is a non-governmental (private) legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public, or so ...

based in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. Its projects engage people in activities promoting

social justice Social justice is justice in relation to the distribution of wealth, opportunities, and privileges within a society where individuals' rights are recognized and protected. In Western and Asian cultures, the concept of social justice has of ...

. The organisation is funded primarily through donations and grants and has been awarded multiple national and international prizes for its projects.

Goals

The organisation's aim is to make socially conscious engagement attractive and visible to a broad public. It strives to raise awareness for social issues, get people engaged in social activism and provide solutions which do not instill pity.

Projects

The project ''Pfandtastisch helfen'' makes it possible for customers to donate their bottle recycling receipts at supermarkets. The funds raised from the receipts are donated to other nonprofit organisations throughout Germany. The

food bank A food bank or food pantry is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger, usually through intermediaries like food pantries and soup kitchens. Some food banks distrib ...

in Berlin, Berliner Tafel, for instance, was able to raise more than 100,000 euros per year in this way. The project Wheelmap.org is an online map for finding and marking wheelchair accessible places. Users can mark public places such as cafés, cinemas, stores and doctor's offices using a simple traffic light system, which indicates if a place is fully, partially or not at all wheelchair accessible. The project gained national fame because of a Google Chrome TV advertisement featuring the map and its founder,

Raul Krauthausen Raul, Raúl, Raül, and Raüll are forms of a common first name in Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, Spanish, Galician, Asturian, Basque, Aragonese, and Catalan. The name is cognate of the Anglo-Germanic given name Ralph or Rudolph and the French R ...

. The map is available in 22 languages on the website and as an

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

Android (operating system) Android is an operating system based on a modified version of the Linux kernel and other open-source software, open-source software, designed primarily for touchscreen-based mobile devices such as smartphones and tablet computer, tablets. Andr ...

and

Windows Phone Windows Phone (WP) is a discontinued mobile operating system developed by Microsoft Mobile for smartphones as the replacement successor to Windows Mobile and Zune. Windows Phone featured a new user interface derived from the Metro design languag ...

app. In May 2012 Sozialhelden introduced the project BrokenLifts.org. The project's aim is to create a central platform where users can inform themselves about the state of repair of elevators in public transportation systems. Starting in November 2011 information regarding malfunctioning elevators in the two transportation systems in Berlin was collected and analyzed hourly. On October 8, 2014, a revised version of the service was launched in cooperation with the public transportation providers

Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg The Verkehrsverbund Berlin-Brandenburg (VBB) is a transport association run by public transport providers in the German states of Berlin and Brandenburg. It is a private limited company owned jointly by the states of Berlin and Brandenburg (w ...

, the

S-Bahn Berlin The Berlin S-Bahn () is a rapid transit railway system that services the reigon in and around Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It has been in operation under the name since December 1930, having been previously called the special tariff are ...

GmbH and the

Berliner Verkehrsbetriebe The (German: 'Berlin Transport Company') is the main public transport company of Berlin, the capital city of Germany. It manages the city's (underground), trams in Berlin, tram, bus transport in Berlin, bus, replacement services (EV) and fe ...

. Elevators in the system report their operational state to BrokenLifts.org and the malfunctioning elevators are shown on the website and app of the service. In addition, the broken elevators are also shown on the online schedule of the transportation providers. Currently the project is limited to the Berlin region, but a collection of data nationwide is envisioned. On August 16, 2012, the organisation published the project Leidmedien.de in cooperation with the

Robert Bosch Stiftung The is a German foundation that owns a majority shareholding in Robert Bosch GmbH, from which it derives its funding. The foundation was established in accordance with the wishes of Robert Bosch, who died in 1942, and conducts and finances s ...

. The project, which was developed together with several journalists, is directed at reporters and commentators who work for the press, in radio broadcasting or other media. It gives directions and support on what phrases and expressions to employ when writing about people with disabilities, without stigmatising them. The aim of the site is to raise the public's awareness by making journalists consider the way language shapes our realities and thus has the power to represent people with disabilities in a realistic way, devoid of stereotypes. The project also gives a voice to people with a wide spectrum of disabilities, giving them a platform for perspectives that are rarely heard in the mainstream media. Sozialhelden emphasize that Leidmedien is not there to instruct journalists but rather to sensitise and change perspectives and give support in finding appropriate language.

Awards

* In 2014 the project Wheelmap.org was awarded the ''Smart Hero Award'' (awarded in cooperation with

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

and the Stiftung Digitale Chancen ) in the category

voluntary commitment Voluntary commitment is the act or practice of choosing to admit oneself to a psychiatric hospital, or other mental health facility. Unlike in involuntary commitment, the person is free to leave the hospital against medical advice, though there ...

. * In 2013 Wheelmap.org was awarded the Zedler-Prize (awarded by

Wikimedia Germany Wikimedia Deutschland (also known as WMDE, Wikimedia Germany, and the Society for the Promotion of Free Knowledge) is a German non-profit association based in Berlin. It was founded in 2004 and recognized that year as the first national chapter o ...

) for free knowledge in the category ''External Knowledge Project of the year''. * In 2013 co-founder Raul Krauthausen was given the

Federal Cross of Merit The Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany (, or , BVO) is the highest state decoration, federal decoration of the Federal Republic of Germany. It may be awarded for any field of endeavor. It was created by the first List of president ...

Ursula von der Leyen Ursula Gertrud von der Leyen (; ; born 8 October 1958) is a German politician, serving as president of the European Commission since 2019. She served in the Cabinet of Germany, German federal government between 2005 and 2019, holding position ...

, Federal Minister for Labour and Social Affairs, to honour his engagement with Sozialhelden. * In 2012 Wheelmap.org won the

World Summit Award The World Summit Awards (WSA) rewards Information and Communications Technologies projects that have a positive impact on society at the local level. The award was initiated in 2003, within the framework of the United Nations World Summit on the ...

in the category

Inclusion Inclusion or Include may refer to: Sociology * Social inclusion, action taken to support people of different backgrounds sharing life together. ** Inclusion (disability rights), promotion of people with disabilities sharing various aspects of lif ...

Empowerment Empowerment is the degree of autonomy and self-determination in people and in communities. This enables them to represent their interests in a responsible and self-determined way, acting on their own authority. It is the process of becoming strong ...

. * In 2012 Sozialhelden received the prize ''Deutscher Verzeichnismedien Preis 2012'' for their project Wheelmap.org. The prize was awarded by Verband Deutscher Auskunfts- und Verzeichnismedien e.V. * In 2011 Sozialhelden received the ''Vodafone'' Smart Accessibility Award 2011 for their project Wheelmap.org. * In 2011 Sozialhelden received the award Ausgewählter Ort 2011 in the initiative "Germany – Land of Ideas", whose patron is the

Federal President of Germany The president of Germany, officially titled the Federal President of the Federal Republic of Germany (),The official title within Germany is ', with ' being added in international correspondence; the official English title is President of the F ...

. * In 2012 the organisation was awarded the INCA-Award (bronze) for its app Wheelmap.Winners of the INCA Award 2010
/ref> * In 2010 Sozialhelden's project Wheelmap.org was awarded the ''VZ Award'' (audience prize of the German Citizens Award). * In 2009 Sozialhelden received the ''Audience Prize of the German Engagement Award''. 1They were also given the special award of the KarmaKonsum Founder Award for their project Pfandtastisch Helfen. * In 2008 Sozialhelden's project Pfandtastisch Helfen was elected one of eight "Bundessieger" projects by startsocial, a contest that supports social ideas and projects.

Notes and references

External links

Official Website
{{Authority control Charities based in Germany Non-profit organisations based in Berlin