ESC in FVG - Empowering Supporting Communities in Friuli Venezia Giulia

Anffas Onlus Pordenone (National Association of Families of people with intellectual and/or relational disabilites) is a non for profit organization whose mission is to promote the disabled people's civil rights and to provide residence and care to people with different degrees of disabilities. Since 1994 Anffas runs the modern Anffas centre "Giulio Locatelli", a residential and daily care service for 75 people with light and severe special needs. The age of the guests goes from 5 years old up. Anffas Onlus Pordenone's mission is also to improve the quality life of the guests in terms of inclusion and integration in society and to offer them physical, emotional and relational support based on their real needs. Anffas Onlus Pordenone organizes daily socio-occupational workshops, recreational and sport activities supported by local volunteers. Presently we propose activities like: beauty farm, digital storytelling, self-advocacy, reading and memories, pottery, painting and drawing, wicker basket waving, choir, music therapy, Snoezelen multisensorial workshop, basal stimulation, bowls, gymnastic, pet therapy, cooking activity, danceability, theatre. Anffas Onlus Pordenone reinforces and promotes lifelong learning and non formal education for all the people working with us. Through the activities and projects that Anffas organizes we offer to experience in a concrete way solidarity and active citizenship for young people.In these way youngsters can feel a sense of belonging to Europe and realize it is important to fight prejudices and discrimination. One of the aims of Anffas is to create concrete socializing events where people with disability interact with people without disability in order to modify the mentality and start to change it to create a more inclusive society. Since 1997 (with the European programmes Youth, Youth in Action and Erasmus+) Anffas Onlus Pordenone is a coordinating, sending and hosting organization withing the European Voluntary Service and it has always given priority to the inclusion of young people with fewer opportunities and NEET. Anffas Onlus Pordenone managed several short term and long term projects always trying to give quality to tailor made projects based on the real learning objectives and personal situations of the volunteers. Anffas Onlus Pordenone works a lot for the promotion of the European Solidarity Corps programme and the voluntary movement in the schools of the regions Friuli Venezia Giulia and Veneto: every year from October to May every month we share the international volunteers' experience with students. Since 2016 we also organize inclusion workshops in the primary and secondary schools of the regions Friuli venezia Giulia and Veneto to improve the creation of a more inclusive society. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qsoYGCnsI6Q The organization creates many meetings and events to raise awareness in the area about people with disability thinking this is a good way to create a true culture about disability and make a change in the attitude towards this target group. Anffas Onlus Pordenone works in collaboration with Pordenone International, a youth association gathering all the young people living in Pordenone but coming from abroad: this association is formed by young professionals who experienced an Erasmus period abroad while attending University and they provide the mentors for our volunteers.