Joy for our Children Foundation has dedicated its work to developing the labor skills of children and youth with non-typical development and various physical and intellectual difficulties. The moving force behind the organization are Nari Bankova – president of the foundation, a mother of four, including a child diagnosed with cerebral palsy (CP), and Elizabeth Cheshmedjieva – a coordinator and mother of a boy diagnosed with the Asperger syndrome.
The two women have dedicated their lives to the cause of helping children with different challenges get work habits training based on their capabilities. Thus, they can achieve partial or full independence from social assistance when they become adults.
One of the multiple problems faced by mothers of disadvantaged children such as Nari and Elizabeth are their social isolation in almost all aspects of life. The members of the foundations have found that the social model in Bulgaria does not include a working, pragmatic solution on a national scale, which could develop the individual skills of children to make them independent from the social assistance programs once they reach adulthood. There are no universal practices for working paid labor alternatives for young people with various difficulties.
The solution that the two mothers have found is to develop a program for the employment of young people with deficits focused on the individual skills of every child/youth.
They have created a social enterprise – a bakery in the town of Varna, where children and young people gradually develop their working skills in a real, protected working environment. In the bakery, the young people gain knowledge and experience to get paid jobs. The approach and the model of training implemented by the Joy for our Children Foundation considers the individual capabilities of every young individual allowing them to be useful for themselves and for the society in general.
The experience of the foundation so far has demonstrated that young people working in their social enterprises successfully master new skills and are able to create their own baked products with the guidance and support of experts and volunteers. The young people are also making significant progress in their social integration because of working in a community.
The mission of the foundation is to make up for the lack of experience, time and resources in specialized schools and companies by training young people with non-typical development. Their ultimate goal is to fill up the existing gap between society and people with disabilities by ensuring these people are well accepted in the employment ranks with their skills and abilities.
PROMYANATA (The Change) they seek to achieve:
The change for Nari and Elizabeth is to achieve a fair and decent place in society for young people with deficits in Bulgaria. They believe that instead of creating people who depend on social assistance, it is possible and necessary to support young, disadvantaged people by training them to work and receive payment for their work.
Their long-term dream is to use the model of the Joy for our Children Foundation as grounds for legislative amendments in the social inclusion policies and the development of solidary economy.