1898, it was the time of industrialisation, young girls from the countryside came to Cologne searching for job opportunities. Many of them arrived at Cologne central station without any money or orientation. This is when IN VIA Köln was founded by well-situated catholic ladies who took over responsibility for the girls and young women. They not only gave individual support to the girls providing shelter and jobs but also established an organisation capable to take social and political influence for the benefit of girls and young women. Today, IN VIA Deutschland is a Catholic non-profit organization with branches in 26 German cities. IN VIA is a member of the Caritas association.

We focus on programs for disadvantaged young people – regardless of their sex, origin, religion and physical condition. The areas we are working in are of diverse nature: With our girls’ residential home we still provide shelter for young girls. We still run the Bahnhofsmission / Travellers Aid Mission at the Cologne central station. But we are also involved in youth service, school social work and after school clubs. We support young adults through different programs for vocational preparation and job integration. In the area of the international projects we have programs like international volunteer services in Germany and abroad as well as integrative internships abroad. These programs offer opportunities for personal development, a wide variety of orientation opportunities and an extensive learning experience for intercultural competences.

IN VIA Köln has more than 700 employees, dedicated to meet the challenges of today’s social work. For more information about IN VIA Köln you can visit our main German homepage.