Inclusive education weekend for people with disabilities and their families

Project of NGO «Association of protection and assistance to the people with disabilities «Open Hearts» (Association «Open Hearts»)

The project became one of the winners of Bayer Grain Basket of the Future grant program in 2020 and showed impressive results. In 2021, the new project became one of the winners of the grant program again and received financial support from the Bayer corporate charity program.

Bayer is an international company working in the fields of healthcare and agriculture. Sustainable development is an integral part of Bayer’s strategy. The company believes that commercial success in the long run is possible only with socially responsible business. Every year, Bayer supports social projects that help bring about positive change in society. All supported projects are united by Bayer’s vision: “Health for all, hunger for none.”

Duration of the project – 5 months

The COVID-19 epidemic has significantly reduced the quality of life of people with disabilities and their families, who have found themselves in total isolation on the brink of poverty and lost the opportunity to restore their psychosocial and physical health.

The project’s activities help prevent burnout, establish new channels of communication, reset family relationships and spread positive results among NGOs and people with disabilities throughout Ukraine.

The mission of the project is to improve the psychosocial and physical health of people with disabilities and their families during the pandemic by involving them in an inclusive family school weekend.

During the project implementation the following main activities were carried out:

1. Accommodation for people with disabilities and their families, sanitary room, kitchen with affordable and comfortable conditions (including for people in wheelchairs), plumbing equipment, appliances and furniture.

2. Developed and created an online information platform for 4 preparatory three-day trainings, 2 webinars with sign language translation and competitive selection of weekend participants.

3. 8 inclusive educational weekends with communication and psychological trainings for parents, communication and art-therapeutic master-classes for children with disabilities, and family master-classes of baking bread in the oven, preparation of national dishes were held.

4. An album of success stories and the experience of the Inclusive education weekend for people with disabilities and their families were presented during the briefing, which will inspire Vinnytsia residents to overcome difficulties and strengthen family values.

The project involved:

• 35 families with people with disabilities who were involved in preparatory online trainings, webinars.

• 16 families (40 people) with people with disabilities who were involved in inclusive weekends.

Indirectly: residents of communities of Vinnytsia region.

600,000 informed citizens.

The community is involved in the project through the participation of its representatives in the project activities.

“I can only imagine how difficult it is for families to take care of children with special needs every day. The pandemic has already made it difficult for everyone, and has become a real challenge, while people with disabilities need daily communication, support and care from others, ”said Oliver Girlichs, Bayer CEO in Ukraine.