Generado Houses
We Have A Dream
A few years ago, on a conference in the Polish Parliament, guests from Great Britain shared the story about their system of support for People with autism. We took to our hearts one thought in particular: after many years of experience, they came to a conclusion that large institutional care homes, though much easier to build and maintain, are not the good places for People with autism. Instead, the islanders talked about intimate and nearly house-like small centres.
Have you ever wondered how you would like to grow old? What if you could live with friends at the same age? What if there was someone who would help you take care of your hygiene, prepare a meal or support you in spending your free time, which you will have plenty of, in an interesting way? Wouldn’t it be a worry-free perspective for your future?
Since we wish for such a future for ourselves, why not create such conditions for People with autism who cannot live at their family homes?
The Need for Change
Our most important goal is to create small, cosy homes of permanent stay for People with autism where they will receive support suited for their needs. Their parents are most afraid of keeping their children in heavily crowded public nursing homes which cannot guarantee therapy and proper living conditions. According to calculations of Autism-Poland Covenant (Porozumienie Autyzm-Polska), monthly amount of money needed to properly support one autistic person is estimated at around 2 700 USD, which is 3,5 times more than the current living costs per one resident of nursing home in Poland. As we are waiting for the law in Poland to become less discriminating for People with autism, and while we are working on establishing a trust fund to cover described costs, we are starting from the basics.
Going Ahead
Currently we are working hard with aim to increase a level of self-reliance in People with autism so in the future they require less support. The added value of gained independence and professional therapy is a smaller number of people and resources needed to support People with autism and, consequently, decreased cost of their support after moving out of family homes. The Generado Foundation is a part of the “Together Forward Group”, lead by Autistic People Help Association “Together Forward”, which runs i.e. nursery schools and elementary schools for People with autism. An original program called “Road to Independence”, developed by Marzena Ganczar, is being implemented with the autistic adolescents. In the year 2018, in the first two Generado Houses, nursing school and elementary school branches have been launched and independence training for autistic adolescents is being conducted. We hope that the Hostel for People with autism will be created in the year 2020 and more Generado Houses will be built in the following years so one day it will be possible to provide accomodation for People with autism whose parents and guardians are no longer able to take care of them.
The Model Building
The main idea is to create a functional model house, easy to build, with low exploitation costs and flexible adaptation that can be built in every environment - a town, a rural area or any other landscape. The house is going to serve the People with autism from their early childhood - they’re going to be nursery schools, then elementary schools, until they can finally become permanent residences. The users of the building are going to evolve along with it while the building adapts to their users and ensures extensive care.
Technical Assumptions
The perfect plot of land should: have an area of at least 1 500 m2, be well connected with the main roads and major cities, allow for production and use of energy and heat coming from natural and ecological sources, and allow for use of modern technological solutions. The building ought to be built with traditional materials, using the latest advances in knowledge and architectural design techniques.
Functional Assumptions
Layout of the building was designed to allow for simplified adaptation of functions, depending on needs. The rooms can be used as living rooms, as well as school classrooms or kindergarten rooms. Each of the two-room ensembles is equipped with a plumbing system. Auxiliary rooms complement the functional development of the building interchangeably.
Main Numerical Data |
|
| 1 ground floor | |
| 1 adaptable upper floor | |
| Building area: | 378 m2 |
| Usable area of the ground floor: | 260,5 m2 |
| Cubature of the building: | 1700 m3 |
First Locations
On the ground floor of Generado House in Żagań, on Szprotawska Street, a nursing school has been launched - it works accordingly to a model developed in Zielona Góra.
More about the nursing school on the website: przedszkole.dalejrazem.pl
On the ground floor of Generado House in Głogów, on Łąkowa street, an elementary school has been launched - it works accordingly to a model developed in Zielona Góra.
More about the elementary school on the website: szkola.dalejrazem.pl
On upper floors of both buildings, there are various activities taking place, aiming to prepare adolescent People with autism for independent life.
We Thank You
The first million needs to be… raised from good people (at least it was so in our case). Generado Houses in Żagań and Głogów are being created thanks to cooperation with a wide range of institutions and private individuals. However, it all wouldn’t have been possible without the trust and financial support of VELUX FOUNDATIONS from Denmark.
