The need for social services in the local community is increasing, due to shortfalls in the system of support for people with disabilities, especially those in need of permanent support in fulfilling social roles. We already conduct intensive activities to provide assistant services and daily support for people with disabilities in the Polkowicki local district. In our view, however, this is not sufficient, mainly because it is not possible to provide twenty-four-hour assistance to consolidate the progress made.
The project addresses the problem of insufficient access to social services that provide an opportunity for self-reliance and improve quality of life of people with disabilities and their families, and the low level of their social activity.
In the project, we will create the Independent Life Academy, which is living quarters that can be used for training for people with disabilities. We plan to convert part of a building, devise a concept for how the facility will function, and hold two six-month terms of 24-hour residence, and coaching on self-reliance, self-determination, and self-advocacy. The residential unit will operate based on a standard devised in the project according to working methods we have used in the past (such as the Activeness Coach model) and methods of activating people with disabilities, implemented from the Norwegian Partner.
Six people with disabilities will benefit from the measures under the project directly. During the six-month term, we will provide Activeness Coach support and a personal coach for each of those persons, as well as specialist support (psychologist, lawyer, etc.).
The Norwegian Partner – Fønix AS – will share the know-how it has gained from activation measures and help to implement effective solutions. The Domestic Partner, the Polkowicki district local government authority, will help achieve effectiveness and permanence of the model devised in the initiative.
