Day Care Centre for persons with mental and intellectual disorders was opened in Šabac on 31 August 2015. Ceremonial opening was attended by Nebojša Zelenović, Mayor of Sabac City, Dr Nenad Ivanisevic, State Secretary of the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy, Ana Milenic, programme manager in the EU Delegation in Serbia, Stanislav Hocevar, president of Caritas Serbia, representatives of Caritas Sabac, local self-governments and other organisations.

The opening of Day Care Centre is a part of the project “Support to prevention of residential treatment of persons with mental and intellectual disorders in Mačvanski County through development of community-based home and day care services”. The project is funded by the European Union from IPA pre-accession funds with 140.000 EUR under the OPEN ARMS project, and carried out by Caritas Šabac in cooperation with The City of Šabac and the consortium of social cooperatives C.O.S.M. from Italy.

The OPEN ARMS project is implemented in cooperation of the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Policy and the Ministry of Health of the Republic of Serbia with main goal to improve social inclusion of persons with disabilities and mental disorders.

“Sabac city is open and we are trying to, in addition to the existing 15 programs, to develop new social services. The fact that the service is provided by non-governmental organizations, Sabac branch Caritas, shows that we have capable private initiatives and NGOs which are able to provide high-quality of social services,” said Nebojsa Zelenovic, Mayor of Sabac.

“This is a good example of cooperation of Caritas, the City of Sabac and the Ministry, with the support of the EU and this fact is very important for all of us and for better life of people with mental and intellectual disabilities,” said Dr Nenad Ivanisevic, State Secretary of the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veteran and Social Policy. He added that “it is necessary to accelerate the development of new services at the local level, but also to financially support local self-governments that are proactive and willing to develop their service”.

“We will continue to cooperate with relevant ministries, local self-governments and organizations, so I hope that we will be able to open many centres that should help our citizens with mental and intellectual disabilities,” announced Ana Milenic, programme manager of the EU Delegation in Serbia.

“Our primary goal is social inclusion of people with mental and intellectual disabilities in the local community through maintenance and improvement of their capacity. In this way we contribute to their social integration, help their families and contribute to the community,” said Miroljub Nikolic, Director of Caritas Sabac.

Day Care Centre is a day service within the social protection community whose purpose is to continually improve the quality of life of the beneficiaries in their own social environment through the maintenance and development of their social, psychological and physical functions and skills in order to enable them, as much as possible, to live independently.

The beneficiaries of Day Care Centre are mentally disabled adults and intellectually challenged adults. The 35 beneficiaries of Day Care Centre will be provided with transport (from their home to Centre and back) and food.

Within this project Caritas Šabac established Day Care Centre service and also have improved the Home Care Service (a day care social protection service within the community). Main goal is to improve the quality of lives of beneficiaries with limited physical and mental abilities and prevent their admission to residential long-term care.

The multidisciplinary team comprising different professionals, nurses, licensed caregivers and volunteers is directly working with beneficiaries. The Day Care Centre service is available on weekdays, from 8.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.

Construction and equipping of the Day Care Centre is co-financed by the European Union, an international network of Caritas. City of Sabac provided the location for the construction of the Centre and helped with the planning of the parcel.

For more information:
www.otvorenizagrljaj.rs
http://www.caritas-sabac.rs/caritas-sabac/