Zentrum GITSCHINER 15

Founded in 2000, Zentrum GITSCHINER 15 is a community organisation based in Berlin, Germany working on poverty & hunger, housing & homelessness, community development +2 more.

GITSCHINER 15 is a social and cultural centre in Berlin-Kreuzberg, run by the Protestant parish of Heilig-Kreuz-Passion (now Evangelische Kirchengemeinde vor dem Halleschen Tor). It was opened in November 2000 in a former factory building at Gitschiner Straße 15 and describes itself as an open adult education centre for people living on low incomes, homeless people and refugees. Visitors can use workshops, courses, a bicycle workshop, music rooms and studios free of charge, and can attend a café and free meals or soup. Social counselling is available without appointment, and the centre hosts exhibitions and an artists' studio whose work is sold through auctions and the KUNST-m2 donor programme. The centre receives no regular public funding and relies mainly on donations, volunteers and church support, though it has received some grants, including EU funding for a counselling project. Donations are tax-deductible and the parish issues donation receipts.