I want to work! Campaign for advocacy of the right to work of persons with disabilities with the support of ACI d.d.

I WANT TO WORK! is a communication campaign for advocating the right to work for persons with disabilities. The goal is to build flexible models of work in the community, adapted to every person with a disability.

Advocacy activities are diverse: from individual influence on persons with disabilities themselves, to influence on the key stakeholders in inclusion processes – employers, decision-makers, and the community at large. I want to work! is a part of the continuous campaign for advocating for the rights of persons with disabilities called “Social while Physically Distanced”. These activities are aimed at encouraging the inclusion of persons with disabilities in the social services offered in our “Friends Daycare Center”, in order to ensure their right to work, and rehabilitation, and to train them for life and work. Our model of approach to persons with disabilities enables their inclusion to work in accordance with their capabilities and interests, ranging from inclusive volunteering to work activities and employment, with the support of professional work assistants. It is precisely these work models that we advocate, and want to influence all the stakeholders in the processes of creating conditions necessary for the efficiency and success of our work model.

ACI – ADRIATIC CROATIA INTERNATIONAL CLUB, for the activity of the marinas d.d. announced this summer a public tender for financing projects of non-profit organizations from donations of ACI d.d. in 2023/first half of the year – public call for funding of associations in 2023. Numerous associations applied for the public tender, among which our work was recognized and supported.

Project name: “I want to work!” – models of work for persons with disabilities with support

(inclusion in social services of a half-day stay and psychosocial support in the “Friends Daycare Center” for persons with disabilities – job training and support for employers in hiring PWDs)

The program of providing social services in the Daycare Center Friends is co-financed in 2023:

and activity groups from programs like this one, under the project name “I want to work! co-financed by:

The expansion of the network of social services is co-financed by the City of Kastav through the project “Mapping the needs of persons with disabilities in the area of Kastav and surrounding municipalities”.

and others.

Partners in the project “I want to work!” are:

Jadran Rowing Club, Rijeka. http://vkjadran.hr is a sports club and employer. In RC Jadran, our recreational activities are held for the purpose of preserving health, and it represents a positive example of a socially responsible employer who does business with our socially entrepreneurial company DIP lab. d.o.o. https://dip.hr/dip-lab-d-o-o/.

In the DIP lab, we employ persons with disabilities who are trained to work in simple and other jobs! VK Jadran is also our partner in the 3-year program of providing social services co-financed by the Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy, “Daycare Center Friends”, a centre for providing social services in the community.

and the Center for Education, Rijeka http://centar-odgojiobrazovanje-ri.skole.hr,  a school where the majority of persons with disabilities are educated. The school is an essential partner with whom we implement the model of “bridging the gap at the transition between the educational system and the world of adults with disabilities”, that is, the early inclusion of school students in our work-occupational program. In addition, most of the school’s students are educated for simple jobs in that School, so they have their first experiences with employers and work within the professional practice program. It is precisely these employers that we want to empower to include PWDs in work and after schooling, train them for the work model of persons with disabilities with support.

Collaborators on the project are:

Center for Rehabilitation, http://www.czrr.hr is an institution and provider of social services founded by the Republic of Croatia. Our partners in the 3-year program of providing social services co-financed by the Ministry of Labour, Pension System, Family and Social Policy are “Daycare Center Friends”, a centre for providing social services in the community. Our cooperation will contribute to connecting persons with disabilities and will improve the quality of providing social services with a special focus on creating opportunities for work, as well as preventing institutionalization.

Center for Professional Rehabilitation Rijeka, https://www.cpr-rijeka.hr is an extremely important link between an employer and a person with a disability who is employed. In addition to the fact that every person with a disability must be evaluated for work efficiency in order to give employers incentives to employ PWDs, they also provide services for the adaptation of the workplace for PWDs and other services. Their contribution is exceptional because together we connect people with disabilities and employers, exchange experiences and provide support to people with disabilities.

and other employers.

Summary: The project improves the quality, ensures the sustainability of the occupational program of social services of residence and psychosocial support, prevents social exclusion, and trains persons with disabilities for life and work in the “Friends Day Center”. I want to work with the campaign! support is given to employers in encouraging the employment of PWDs.

Duration: June 1st, 2023. through December 31st, 2023.

Amount of ACI co-financing: 1,500 euros

Other donors: City of Rijeka: 300 euros from Small Grants

General objectives:

• Provide social services of half-day stay and psychosocial support and organize user clubs and groups of self-advocates.
• Ensure the availability of social services in the wider area of the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County.
• Conduct a communication campaign to advocate for the rights of persons with disabilities, with an emphasis on the right to work, and provide support to employers in hiring PWDs in order to encourage faster and better employment of PWDs.

Special objectives:

• Improve the quality of social services in a wider area, as a prerequisite for organized housing, that is, preventing institutionalization and promoting deinstitutionalization.
• Improve the informal network of social service providers that started with the work “Life in the community” and expand cooperation with all key stakeholders, including existing organizations in order to improve the quality of work, through various programs of knowledge transfer, mentoring and activities for users and employees.
• Strengthen the network of volunteers, with new volunteers from the community, especially those who live in the areas of activity to which we will expand the network of social services

Expected results:

1. Continuity of providing half-day social and psychosocial support services for 30 to 50 beneficiaries – persons with disabilities according to the work program.

Role of partners in this project:

VK Jadran:

to provide the infrastructure for the maintenance of recreational and sports activities in VK Jadran (use of the gym for activities once a week, with the support of a kinesiologist)

participate in the “I want to work” campaign and promotion (recording of a video for a round table about the work of persons with disabilities in VK Jadran and others).

Center for Education, Rijeka:

actively participate in activities that contribute to “bridging the gap at the transition between the educational system and the world of adults” (sensitizing families and school students on inclusion in social services, joint activities, etc.).

2. Conducted communication campaign “Social while Physically Distanced” – for 2023 under the name “I want to work!”

Partner’s role: active participation in promotional activities, contribution to the publication of a brochure on student work opportunities for the professions for which they are educated at the Center, contribution to the publication of a brochure on socially entrepreneurial companies that employ persons with disabilities, participation in a round table and other promotional activities.