The GAGFAH Foundation provides aid for young people and the elderly at the Canarisweg in Hanover
6/12/2007
- Internet Café, Fitness Room and Kids Club for tenants
- GAGFAH is facing up to its social responsibilities as a housing company
- The goal is for people to live independently in their own homes
The GAGFAH Foundation "Mensch und Wohnen" (People and Living) will finance an extensive project for young people and the elderly at the Canarisweg in Hanover for a total of € 50,000. "This will promote self-determined and independent living for tenants in our Mühlenberg property. People should feel at ease in familiar surroundings and stay there as long as possible", emphasizes Burkhard Ulrich Drescher, Chairman of the Foundation and CEO of the GAGFAH GROUP. "The Foundation makes a sustainable contribution to this endeavor."
As the landlord, the GAGFAH GROUP is expanding the leisure activities, employment offers, and learning opportunities offered in the dwelling together with local protagonists. The Internet Café was inaugurated as the first additional offer. Five PC terminals with DSL connections have been made available to the tenants. The Internet Café is open on Mondays from 3 p.m. to 8 p.m. and on Wednesdays until 6 p.m. Young mothers can also go online on Tuesdays between 10:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.; the offer will soon be coordinated with the planned Kids Club. Breakfast for senior citizens and Internet for the elderly is also offered on Thursdays and Fridays from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
The Fitness Room is scheduled to be made available for tenants at the end of June. Tenants can use fitness equipment free of charge and take advantage of courses offered for all age groups. Kids can borrow games from the Kids Club or participate in organized outings with care provided for small children and mothers.
The additional leisure activities are available at Haus Canarisweg 13. The rooms have been renovated in keeping with modern standards and equipped with the latest technology. The GAGFAH GROUP has created additional jobs for supervision.
"Our new facilities supplement the offers already available at the location", says Peter Reese, Head of the Customer Center Hanover 2. "At the Canarisweg people are committed to good cooperation both in their jobs and during their leisure time. With this project we are offering tenants the opportunity to shape their surroundings and to play a part in it. We thus increase the self-esteem of the residents at Canarisweg."
The GAGFAH GROUP established the Foundation "Mensch und Wohnen" towards the end of 2006 and endowed the Foundation with assets amounting to € 5 million. Among other things the foundation promotes meeting centers for young people and senior citizens and works together closely with social sponsors in the dwellings of the GAGFAH GROUP. "Enabling older people to live an independent life in their apartments for the long term is an important contribution to the advancement of a residential quarter. Through the work of our Foundation "Mensch und Wohnen" we highlight our awareness of the social aspects of residential space. The GAGFAH GROUP is thus facing up to its social responsibility as a housing company", says Drescher, Chairman of the Foundation.
Dr. Torsten Tragl, member of the Board of Directors of the Foundation, emphasizes: "The Foundation has been set up exclusively for non-profit-making purposes. The Foundation's assets basically remain undiminished; the projects are financed with dividends. Contributions to the Foundation's assets and donations may be made and will increase the capacity for providing support. This year the Foundation will provide € 250,000 for four measures in Hanover, Bielefeld, Essen and Dresden."
About GAGFAH S.A. and the GAGFAH GROUP
GAGFAH S.A. is a stock corporation established under the laws of Luxembourg and qualifies as a securitization company under the Luxembourg Securitization Law of March 22, 2004. The most important subsidiaries of GAGFAH S.A. are GAGFAH GmbH, NILEG and WOBA DRESDEN. The core business of the subsidiaries is the ownership, management and purchase of a high-quality and geographically diversified housing portfolio throughout Germany. Owing a portfolio of over 164,000 rental apartments, GAGFAH S.A. is the largest housing company listed in Germany. GAGFAH generates 95 percent of its earnings through the leasing of attractive residential space and continuously strives to further improve its services. GAGFAH is aware of its social responsibility as is evidenced, for instance, by special protective rules in favor of tenants and through the GAGFAH Foundation "People and Living" (Mensch und Wohnen").