Meet our wonderful cleaning staff: Passar Via
It is about time we talk about one of the most important aspect of the services we offer; one that nobody notices if it is done well: the cleaning! Apart from the fact that we use eco-friendly cleaning products and methods, we want to introduce the people who make sure our Casas are spotless, odor-free and come with all the necessary amenities like enough (recycled) toilet paper, fresh towels and bedsheets, filtered tap water, and organic locally-made hand soap to just name a few.
We work with Passar Via, a company founded in 1998 by Enric Massana and Sergi Pallares as a spin-off to the Foundation Els Tres Tres Turons. Their mission is to help people with mental illnesses to find work by offering training and individual mentoring. A job provides structure, meaning and purpose as well as social integration, which are key ingredients to help people with mental disabilities recover. Through working with Passar Via, we realised that mental disabilities are nothing too out of the ordinary, and frankly, could happen to any of us at some point of our lives. Some common illnesses are for example depression or phobias. According to the World Health Organisation, “depression is the leading cause of ill health and disability worldwide”.
We are very grateful for the opportunity to support social integration though providing work for people with disabilities. Although, to be fair, this does not require a special effort from our side so far. The excellent work of Passar Via makes this a very productive and effective relationship. All we were told was that we should treat his workers like we do everyone else. Because the collaboration has been so satisfying and positive for us, we decided to write this article; to share our experience and hopefully inspire more businesses to consider working with vulnerable people for whom finding and keeping a job might not be an easy task.
If your business is based in Barcelona, check out Passar Via who offer services like cleaning, gardening, construction work like painting and maintenance, supermarket deliveries and subtitling and audio descriptions!
Note: Since the end of 2018 we are working with CoopNet, who’s mission is to dignify and professionalise green cleaning. We realised that it was no longer viable to work with Passar Via, because it turns out that mentally unstable people need a very regular work schedule; something we can unfortunately not offer. Work days and hours need to be flexible in accordance to the bookings we receive, so both parties agreed that it would be better not to keep working together. The company focuses now on cleaning offices and other spaces that can have fixed timetables.