The Association of People with Disabilities ‘Pogoda’ from Kleszczewo Kościerskie in Starogard Gdański District is a Public Benefit Organization with KRS no. 0000151612 entitled to receive 1% of income tax and compensatory damages awarded by a court. The Association was brought to life in 1996 by Mrs. Barbara Klońska coming from Gdynia, who, as the leader in the field of care for the disabled, decided to settle in one of the rural communities of Starogard Gdański District for the sake of her disabled son – Michał. Considering that the rural atmosphere would be good for her disabled child, she decided on this ground to create an organization that was supposed to take care of its disabled citizens. A very important reason for the formation of ‘Pogoda’ was also the fact that no one in this rural commune had ever dealt with people with disabilities, who spent their time within the four walls of their family homes doing nothing. Therefore, the Association ‘Pogoda’ was established as grassroots community initiative complying with the huge demand in the sphere of people with disabilities and its main task became widely understood rehabilitation and support of their families. ‘Pogoda’ has been the only institution dealing with people with disabilities in this rural commune.
Since 2002 the Association has run the Communal Home of Mutual Aid (CHMA) in Kleszczewo Kościerskie, which is attended by more than 30 intellectually disabled citizens of that municipality. Moreover, the Association also runs the ‘Communal Information Point for People with Disabilities’ and publishes its own newsletter ‘Partner’, in which one can find current information concerning its work and useful materials to people with disabilities and their families.
The following workshops operate in the CHMA: cooking, embroidery and sewing, artistic, joinery, IT, gardening and environmental, rehabilitation, and ‘Little Black’ cafe. The CHMA participants with the help of therapists become independent, socialized and vocationally activated, causing their continuous development and improvement of social functioning. The Association Board and the management of the CHMA put every effort so that the Association could render specialized services of the highest standard. Therefore, they try as much as possible to raise funds for the ongoing activities of the Association, as those obtained from the state budget would never allow to maintain such a high standard of the CHMA. The example of this is the fact that the Association ‘Pogoda’ already has two vehicles dedicated to transport people with disabilities and a large number of rehabilitation equipment.
Thanks to the efforts of the management of the Association and the CHMA and generosity of the people of good heart, the charges of ‘Pogoda’ participate in many events and celebrations, go on numerous camps and excursions (including foreign), perform in competitions and festivals, thereby actively influencing the lives of the local population and the whole country. They are also involved in professional theater productions, vocal and dance performances, fashion shows and sporting events, where they achieve great success. The Association has its own Kociewie folk art team, dance group, cabaret and independently organizes many events. ‘Pogoda’ has been cooperating with the representatives of government and other NGOs in the country and abroad.
The Association enters a number of competitions, attempts to get grants and implements a number of projects, including those organized by the European Union. We have partners in Germany, Lithuania, Russia and we are constantly thinking about establishing new contacts abroad. All the activities conducted by the Association met with high praise from many people and institutions so that ‘Pogoda’ gained the reputation of a reliable and trustworthy partner. The examples of ‘Pogoda’s professionalism are the Honorable Mention of the Commune Head for economic and social activities of our organization in 2007 and the Congratulatory Letter of the Marshal of Pomorskie Province which we received on the 15th anniversary of our activity. Also all the charges under ‘Pogoda’s supervision and their parents are satisfied with the Association’s work and the local society recognizes how important its role is.
‘Pogoda’ has very ambitious plans concerning its activities in the future. The Association extends the scope of hippotherapy and plans to open the Active Rehabilitation Centre in the near future, which would serve the entire local community. ‘Pogoda’ is also going to organize events which main objective will be the integration of people with disabilities with the rest of society, their promotion in the local environment and widely understood activation of the disabled. The Association also runs its own training apartments where people with disabilities learn to live independently and is planning to launch sheltered housing. Trying to meet a social demand, ‘Pogoda’ is also preparing to open the premises for solitary people with disabilities who need support and assistance. Taking welfare services and educational care of children in preschool and school age is another goal that ‘Pogoda’ is going to achieve. The Association of People with Disabilities ‘Pogoda has been and will always be open to cooperation with people who have their hearts in the right place and care for the disabled. Greeting cheerfully, we are looking forward to cooperating with all the people of good will!