Akademia Niezależnego Życia - practice daily life, become self-reliant!

About this project

<p>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.</p>

Bilateral cooperation results

The project was inspired by the Norwegian Partner's system of supported housing for people with disabilities. The exchange of experience and training of the Norwegian partner in the field of housing operation was the foundation of the application and initiated activities in the project Academy of Independent Living - train everyday life gain independence. Having a partner in the project enabled the organisation to develop as well as learn from good practices in housing for people with disabilities and adapt them to Polish conditions. The exchange of international experiences and the possibility to see how the Norwegian partner works (visit to Norway) has significantly broadened horizons and increased recognition and perception of the Foundation as an innovative organisation with great potential. On the other hand, the Norwegian partner was also able to see what services the Eudaimonia Foundation offers and thus also gain new experience. The Norwegian partner was always available for advice and experience. The main results of the cooperation in addition to the activities mentioned above are: - creation of a standard model for the functioning of assisted housing with a training function preparing for the process of becoming independent and acquiring self-advocacy competences implemented by the Norwegian Organisation's working methods - training of staff in the concept of functioning of the flats. - establishing international cooperation. Already during the project, the Norwegian partner became a partner in a second project on self-advocacy measures. We are in contact with the possibility of cooperating in other activities when the opportunity arises.

Project partners

• Fønix Donor project partner· Norway
• Polkowicki poviat Project partner· Poland