Four “Protected Homes” for persons with intellectual disabilities were opened in Soroca with support from the United Nations and the Soros Foundation Moldova. Twenty beneficiaries of the Temporary Placement Center for Persons with Disabilities of Bădiceni will be accommodated there, IPN reports.
The public association “Casa Speranțelor” of Soroca offered assistance to the Center of Bădiceni in outrfitting the protected homes so as to ensure independent living for the beneficiaries. These will also benefit from individualized support from social assistants who were trained as part of the project.
Until now, half of the beneficiaries successfully completed the period of adjustment, five of them being employed. Three of the beneficiaries found a stable job after businesses operating in the community were sensitized of the necessities.
“Owing to the generous support of the European Union, we can help these persons start an independent life in safety. We are proud of the successes achieved by the beneficiaries of the project, who already managed to find a job and we are very grateful to the community in Soroca for receptivity,” said Valentina Onică, head of “Casa Speranțelor”.
The four services “Protected Home” were developed at a cost of over €128,000, more than €78,000 of which represented state budget funds managed by the Temporary Placement Center for Persons with Disabilities of Bădicen. Another almost €50,000 constituted funds of the project implemented by the Association “Casa Speranțelor”, which is financed by the EU and Soros Foundation Moldova.
“The social services developed in the framework of our project reach the places where they are needed the most. We speak about persons with intellectual and psychosocial disabilities and other beneficiaries who enjoy support for having a better life,” said Vitalie Slobozian, program coordinator at Soros Foundation Moldova.
Starting with 2018, as part of the European project “Better social services by a sustainable partnership between civil society and the government”, civil society organizations contributed, in concert with residential institutions, to creating 19 “Community House” and “Protected Home” services in houses bought with state budget resources in the districts of Soroca, Orhei, Dubăsari, Edineț, Râșcani and the municipality of Bălți. This way, 35 persons with intellectual disabilities live now in the community, while another 55 persons are prepared for being transferred to communities until this yearned.
