The project "Different but together" of Pentru Voi Foundation, received the Greatest Award at the Civil Society Gala, an event which took place Tuesday, May 20th at the Romanian Athenaeum in Bucharest.
In addition to winning the top honor at the gala, the project also received an award for best entry in the "Social Services for Disadvantaged Persons" category.
In accepting the award, Laila Onu, Executive Director of Pentru Voi Foundation, said: "Thank you to our partner, the City Hall Timisoara, who has supported us for 11 years. Thank you to the donor of this project, Open Society Mental Health Initiative. It is a pleasure and an honor to receive this award because we fight for persons with intellectual disabilities, a group that is one of the most marginalized groups in Romania. More than 20,000 people with intellectual disabilities are segregated in institutions where they are abused or deprived of their basic rights. We demonstrated that the right place for the persons with intellectual disabilities to live is in the community! Even if we are different, we can live well only together."
The "Different, but together" project secured employment for 73 persons with intellectual disabilities. These individuals were employed in various fields, including the free labor market and social enterprises. Thirteen of these individuals have severe intellectual disabilities. The employment program established partnerships with 26 companies from Timisoara, and produced video-testimonials about employing people with disabilities that was promoted on television, on the web and YouTube, and at various conferences.
This year, 115 projects with a total value of 7.9 million Euros competed at the Romanian Civil Society Gala. The projects were divided in 8 sections: Education and Research, Art and Culture, Civic Behavior and Public Participation, Protection of the Individual and Collective Rights, Health, Social Services for the Disadvantaged, Environmental Protection, and Economic and Social Development.