Ithaca was founded in 2015 by three students and operates since 2016. The objectives of our services are to improve hygiene standards of homeless people, enhance their self-esteem and dignity and offer them job opportunities in order to help them reintegrate into the society.

Our core activity consists of a mobile laundry service, which is the first one for the homeless in Europe. Our van is equipped with two washing machines and two tumble dryers in order to deliver clean and dry clothes to our beneficiaries.  At the moment, the mobile laundry operates in five different spots in Athens and Piraeus, six days a week, while at the same time it tries to expand its range so as to serve as many people as possible. Since the beginning, we have managed to deliver 10.300 washes and provide 70.000 tons of clean clothes to our 2.400 unique beneficiaries. Ithaca operates 6 days/week in 5 different spots in Athens and Piraeus.

Furthermore, in 2017 we created the first job positions for people coming from social vulnerable groups. In that extent, Ithaca acts as a springboard for them to reintegrate into the society, hiring them for a 12 months period as drivers of the van and to be in charge of the reception and service of our recipients. We have provided 5 people coming from social vulnerable groups with jobs in the field of our operations. So far 3 of them have succeeded in completing our program and found new full time jobs and 2 of them are still members of our team.

Ithaca’s volunteers are an integral part of the organization. They are mainly involved in the daily operation in the field and specifically, in the reception and service of the beneficiaries. They are also involved in several other fields that match their interests, such as photography, social media, graphic design, administrative support and web development. Since the beginning of our operation – when our services were offered by our volunteers exclusively – until now, the volunteers are offering their support to the society with an unflagging interest and commitment. Their contribution and assistance to our work are valuable for the organization’s proper functioning.