Visited Nizhny Novgorod

"Steps. To the city for a weekend" is the name of the project, which allows young adults living in institutions in Nizhny Novgorod and the region not only to master the skills of independence, but also to take a significant step toward the beginning of life outside the psychiatric home.

In short, the project is a series of four-month programs aimed at teaching 15 young adults from psychiatric institutions the skills of self-care, use of public transport, creative activities and visits to leisure facilities.

However, "Steps" — is only a small part of the comprehensive work of the Parents' Committee with the wards of psycho-neurological boarding schools, and an example of a mutually beneficial partnership of organizations united by one goal - to give people living in boarding schools a chance for a new, happier life.  . 

CSS Project Manager Yuri went through the entire infrastructure provided by the "Parents' Committee" together with the "Open Doors" Foundation.

Package of care includes:

• Day Care Center where mentees with special needs come independently from residential facilities in the city and region. Classes at the center include mastering the skills of reading, writing, personal budgeting, preparation for the restoration of capacity.

• Social Summer House (Dacha). Where, from May to October, two-week shifts are held for participants accompanied by a specialist. Participants from the psychoneurological boarding school go to the summer house, develop their domestic skills and take a break from residential care. There is also a ‘root’ couple living in the social cottage — former residents of the institutions, who now live independently and help people with similar experiences.

• The Foundation provides five training apartments where its mentees live in shifts of several days. This helps them consolidate everyday skills and knowledge gained at other sites and understand the responsibility that comes with living alone. Accompanied persons are also there to teach and help if necessary.

• The Nest Hotel in the Nizhny Novgorod region, where psychologists, defectologists and Foundation trainers conduct two-week intensive courses for people with multisensory and mental disabilities, as well as for parents raising children with special needs.

“I saw how the work is organized in the intensive courses, in the social village, and in the city center. The program is holistic. Each participant has an individual plan and goal. Inmates say life outside the institution is good for them. They become more independent, open, and cheerful. Many people in residential care centers can live outside closed institutions with proper support," says Yury.