Through the implementation of this project, we aimed to strengthen the capacities of the organization in a way that would allow us to offer services and activities to beneficiaries who have completed their education but, being unprepared for the labor market, found themselves spending most of their time at home, completely excluded from the community. With this project, we wanted to "bring" these beneficiaries — in both partner organizations — out of their homes by gradually integrating them into the community, starting with workshops and social activities with people of similar abilities, and progressively including them in community life by developing their cognitive, motor, and social skills to levels that would allow them to participate more easily and fully in various social settings. Another goal of this project was to encourage empathy and volunteering among high school students, making them aware that there are people in their community with fewer abilities, but who are by no means less valuable, and to actively involve them in volunteering activities to help reduce the stigmatization of people with intellectual disabilities in the wider community.
The beneficiaries of the association Kamenčići are people with intellectual disabilities, and most of them, in addition to health issues, share the same problem – social marginalization. All activities of the association are aimed at better and more meaningful inclusion of its beneficiaries in society through various programs, as well as providing them with services they need but cannot obtain elsewhere. Applying for this project was an opportunity to strengthen the capabilities of the association’s staff by acquiring new knowledge and skills in order to better support their beneficiaries. Since we had previously cooperated with an association from Hungary, we realized that we face similar challenges. Through this project, we aimed to enhance the competencies of both organizations to provide higher quality services to our beneficiaries, improve their work and life skills, and enable them to become equal members of the community.