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Description
Organisational Grant - implementation of the submitted strategy.
The Civic Activity Foundation''s mission is: "Be Active, Activate and Engage Others!" and our vision is: "We strive for the reality where the residents have better lives, and those in need and excluded will have the opportunity to get out of exclusion and become active". We have set ourselves the following strategic goals: • To include excluded people and those at risk of exclusion in community life; • To increase the residents’ civic and social engagement; • To increase the professionalism of activities and quality in the organisation''s management. Our activities address the following themes: breaking out of isolation and counteracting violence among the elderly; improving the image of people at risk of social exclusion and activating them; supporting families, including building good relations and intergenerational dialogue; supporting local communities in building understanding and dialogue to solve social problems. We are creating an Active Senior Citizens’ Centre and developing the concept of the innovative "Included!" Model. The idea of the Model is to extend support and reach out to older people experiencing exclusion, including domestic violence, who are not reached by institutional support, often isolated due to health conditions, disability, depression, loneliness. The support targeted at these people will be individualised and will involve assistance by a second (more active) senior – a neighbour, as well as building a network of support. We want to refine this concept and introduce it in 3 counties: Lublin, Puławy and Biłgoraj. The "Included!" model will become our brand, of which we will be proud. It will be a bridge for the elderly, which will allow them to prolong their social activity and enter late old age "hand in hand" with another person, with a smile, and in harmony with themselves.
Summary of project results
Taking into account trends, i.e. socio-cultural changes (especially demographic), technological development and the resulting mental gap between generations and the health crisis (lifestyle diseases, disabilities), working with older people at risk of social exclusion is one of the main areas and goals of our activities and this project. To do this, we need support for our organization in the form of premises (adapted to the needs of people with disabilities), equipment, furniture and competences for the team working with the groups of recipients of our activities. We assume that the time and money invested in this way will improve the situation of older people at risk of exclusion and the image of our organization in the province. Lublin in this area.
As part of the project, we implemented the concept of the innovative "Included!" Model. The idea of the Model was to support and reach older people who experience exclusion, including domestic violence, who do not receive institutional support, and who are often isolated due to health, disability, depression, and loneliness. The support addressed to these people was individualized and consisted in helping another senior - a neighbor (more active), as well as building a support network (bank) for such a person. As a result, the excluded senior was activated, cared for, and provided with contacts, among others. 2-3 people (e.g. someone who will provide assistance with transport, minor repairs, contacts with the office/doctor). The model was successfully tested in three counties (Lublin, Biłgoraj and Puławy), which allowed us to refine it and implement it in a larger number of counties in the future, among institutions/organizations working in the area of exclusion and providing assistance to seniors. As a result, the “Included!” Model has become our brand that we are proud of, it is a bridge for older people, it gives a chance to extend the period of social activity and enter old age in harmony with oneself, in cooperation with other people.
A visible change that has taken place thanks to the activities carried out by our organization is the activation of older people who have gained an appetite for life and are willing to act in their neighborhood, environment and local community, "pulling" other older people out of their homes, integrating and implementing joint intergenerational initiatives. Moreover, activities related to the activation of local leaders allowed for intercultural and international integration, as well as opening up to people at risk of exclusion and in difficult situations. These people can independently diagnose problems in their communities and have tools and people around them with whom they can make changes to make their lives better in their communities. The achieved results fall directly into support area 2 of the Program. These are all indicators related to the functioning of the CAS Center for Active Seniors and Senior Women, as well as testing and implementation, as well as dissemination of the innovative "Included" Model, implementation of professional and social activation programs for residents of local communities, intergenerational integration, and counteracting domestic violence. Thanks to the implementation of the grant, FAO is perceived as a professional organization responding to current problems and needs of older people. We cooperate with local and regional media to publicize our activities. We are supported by Polish Radio Lublin and Regional Television Lublin, and we have also managed to establish cooperation with local media in Biłgoraj, Zamość and Puławy. Thanks to this, a community of older people, leaders and families (our main groups of recipients/activities) has been created and is constantly growing around our activities. Along with the implementation of the Strategy, we have increased the network of our volunteers and collaborators. We are also recognizable in the region, we cooperate with the local government, NGO and private sectors in the Lublin poviat, eastern and northern parts of the voivodeship.