Kabátová Dája
Organization: Letohrádek Vendula
Year Founded: 1990
Country: Czech Republic
Website: www.letohradekvendula.cz
Letohrádek Vendula serves the needs of handicapped people in the Czech Republic by providing social services and work opportunities. Focus: Disabilities, Education, Enterprise Development, Health, Labour Conditions and Unemployment Model: Hybrid Non-Profit Geographic Area of Impact: Czech Republic Annual Budget: US$ 538,000 (2009) Current Number of Beneficiaries: 54 (2009) Percentage of earned revenue: 30% Recognition: Social Entrepreneur of the Year, Czech Republic, 2008 Background Most social services for handicapped people in the Czech Republic consist of life-long placements in state institutions, which often lack support programmes to integrate people into society. One alternative is home care, where someone from the family will stay at home to care for its handicapped parent or relative. Finding support services if a person can no longer be cared for is very challenging. Letohrádek Vendula serves the needs of handicapped people in the Czech Republic. Innovation and Activities Letohrádek Vendula is a non-governmental, not-for profit organization, which operates a crisis centre providing care, accommodation and workshop employment to individuals with severe handicaps. Its crafts manufacturing workshop employs people with mental, physical or combined handicaps, who engage in traditional crafts such as weaving, candle production and handmade paper production. The products are sold in a wide network of stores, including Baumax home improvement stores. Other services provided by Letohrádek Vendula include a daily and weekly assisted living facility, legal consulting and a crisis centre with accommodation and physiotherapy. The crisis centre provides temporary accommodation, consulting and personal assistance to handicapped people in need, especially in the case of their caregiver’s death. Letohrádek Vendula accepts all people irrespective of their diagnosis, which is completely different from the approach of state-run institutions that sort people according to their disabilities. The organization represents a unique community of people who are, to a great extent, able to work together. For example, a physically healthy but mentally handicapped man and a wheelchair-bound but mentally healthy man can help each other. The result of their cooperation is production and a saleable product. Letohrádek Vendula also provides training for government professionals with the goal to change the approach in state institutions from passive caretaking to active participation by people with disabilities. The Entrepreneur Drahoslava (Dája) Kabátová graduated from Charles University in Prague with a major in special education. For 10 years, until 1994, she worked in the Jedlicka Institute in Prague as a nurse where she organized a crafts workshop. Kabátová has served on several evaluation boards for social projects sponsored by the Czech Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, and has developed many projects with grants from the government and the European Union. She is an Ashoka Fellow.
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