"How can we make life better for children with disabilities?" This was the question Centre Manager Maria Król asked when initiating a project to modernise the Disabled Children's Centre in Zamoc, Poland. The therapeutic part of the centre has long been in desperate need of sanitary and infrastructure repairs, and funding secured through the EEA Grants will cover extensive renovation works.
"As a mother of a child with cerebral palsy, and as a manager of the centre, this centre is a small step in the giant leap needed to make the world more friendly for disabled people, giving them the opportunity to have active, social lives," said Król.
The therapeutic centre, to be run by the charity organisation Step by Step Association of Help for Disabled Children, will undergo a complete makeover in order to provide better rehabilitation services for children with disabilities and special needs. The centre is also initiating new treatment and training programmes to help children with disabilities lead fuller lives. As part of the project, staff at the centre will receive training to use new equipment and enhance methods for working with and treating the children. The training will be developed in collaboration with partners in Belgium and the United Kingdom, and will later be passed on to sister organisations in Poland, Moldova and Ukraine.
The Step by Step Association of Help for Disabled Children was established in 1990 as a grassroots initiative by parents and friends of disabled children. Today, the association is an important institution in Poland and have received several distinction awards for its efforts. The organisation carries out its treatment and activities free of charge, and offers rehabilitation, education and social support for disabled children in all age groups. The association is today the only of its kind in south-east Poland, with several centres spread around the region. The association provides complex rehabilitation, education and care for about 2000 children and young people with disabilities.