People United Center

People United Center, the San Juan del Castillo Foundation, in Madrid, Spain, was founded by the Jesuits in 2003 and offers services for immigrants, for the local migrant families, and for the unemployed.
History
People United Center originated when a Jesuit priest at Francis Xavier parish in the La Ventilla neighorhood of Madrid looked to assist immigrant families in educating children and in finding job placements. Other Jesuit parishes joined in this work and in 2003 the San Juan del Castillo Foundation was founded. While immigrant families have been a focus of the Foundation, its work with all the unemployed increased after the economic crisis of 2008.
The Center has eight office spaces, four rooms for group work, and a classroom for forty people. The history of the Center has been portrayed in images.
Programs
Several lines of assistance developed: employability training, labor insertion, housing, and legal assistance; education for all ages, community development, and inter-religious dialogue; and volunteerism and advocacy. There are seven hired staff and about 200 volunteers. Financing comes from the municipality and community, from Catholic parishes and organizations, and from partners and private donors. The Sub-Saharan welcome program numbered about 400 clients in its first ten years, most of whom are now gainfully employed. The Center includes in its programs an urban summer camp for children.
People United accompanies those detained in Spanish detention centres, especially where relatives are unable to visit the facility; it furnishes things like clothing, hygienic kits, and telephone cards; it defends legal rights, such as to religious practice and to proper procedure for expulsion. Public advocacy and reports by People United have produced improvements in conditions and volunteers from People United now visit Aluche Center every weekday. Two members of the Center's staff produced the chapter on "Forced Expulsions in Spain" for the book "Fear, Insecurity, and Social Control". In 2017 a lawyer from the Center argued before Congress on the inefficiency and illegality of the CIEs.

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