On May 10, the Center for daytime employment and vocational training of teenagers and young people with disabilities “A cup of kindness” was opened in Kyiv. In the future, the center plans to employ people with intellectual disabilities. This was announced by Denys Savchenko, project manager of “The League of the Strong”.
“The center’s premises were renovated and the necessary equipment was purchased. In the first month, more than 40 young people with mental disabilities will be able to spend time here. Every day, social services will be provided here in accordance with the needs of the center’s clients,” says Denys Savchenko.
The Center will be coordinated by the NGO “Family for People with Disabilities”, a member of “League of the Strong”. Currently, organization provides rehabilitation to 30 people with disabilities on a regular basis. The center will allow the organization to increase the number of people receiving assistance and the number of services provided.
“A lot of people and organizations have been involved in the creation of the center for daytime employment and vocational training for teenagers and young people with disabilities. These include charitable foundations, business representatives, and public organizations. The families of children and young people with disabilities have also made a lot of efforts to create the center. About 30 private individuals and legal entities were actively involved in the process of repairing and equipping the center. And it all started when our organization won a competition for public budget projects in Kyiv. Our Center for daytime employment and vocational training for teenagers and young people with disabilities is the result of a great collaboration of many caring people and organizations, and we are glad that we managed to implement it despite all the difficulties,” says Marianna Onufryk, head of the NGO.
To enable the center to function fully, the project initiators plan to form an interdisciplinary team in the near future, implement the best European practices for organizing employment and preparing adolescents with disabilities for work, as well as the best practices of Ukrainian rehabilitation centers, NGOs and municipal institutions, and individual specialists.
The renovation of the center was made possible by the cooperation of “The League of the Strong” and the Catalan Foundation for Development Cooperation, a non-profit organization made up of city councils and other local governments that allocate part of their budget to finance development cooperation and international solidarity activities. As part of the joint project, more than 12 thousand euros were allocated for the repair and arrangement of this center.