On October 7, a jubilee ceremony was held in the BOK-MCC conference hall. Alongside the centre’s participants and staff, representatives of the local government and partner institutions and associations also attended.
City Hall:
The centre is currently headed by Wioletta Ziembikiewicz-Konefał. For 24 years, the position of head of the First Community Self-Help Centre was held by Ewa Słonina. The centre was established in 1997 as an organisational unit of the Municipal Social Welfare Centre. Since 2012, it has been a budgetary unit of the Municipality of Bolesławiec.
The centre is intended for 30 adults who have experienced mental-health crises and who do not currently require hospital treatment. The First Community Self-Help Centre is open to the needs and expectations of all people with disabilities due to their mental health who are seeking support and acceptance.
The forms of therapy and supportive, activating activities are adapted to the individual abilities and interests of the participants. The self-help in the centre’s name is a call to an independent and dignified life. Everyone can help themselves and another person, because everyone has their own strengths.
At the centre, participants can count on professional advice and help in dealing with important matters in their lives. At the First Community Self-Help Centre, people with disabilities discover the world of their own abilities and interests and meet new friends. The centre cooperates with other facilities and organisations.
The local government adds:
This year, the First Community Self-Help Centre—alongside the Second Community Self-Help Centre in Bolesławiec and the Regional Hospital for the Nervously and Mentally Ill in Bolesławiec—was once again a co-organiser of Bolesławiec’s World Mental Health Day observances. The event’s central theme was: “Make mental health and well-being a global priority!” The event was held under the honorary patronage of the Mayor of Bolesławiec and funded from the budget of the City of Bolesławiec.
This year’s programme included a conference with lectures on depression and violence against children and young people. On October 6, two presentations were held in the BOK-MCC conference hall: “The Names of Depression—Definition, Symptoms, Case Study and Prevention” by Aleksandra Rzeźwicka and “Violence against Children and Young People in the Family and Peer Environment: Forms of Violence, Prevention, How to Respond to Violence and How to Help Victims?” by Sebastian Pluta. The conference was accompanied by consultations with specialists (a psychologist and a psychiatrist), visual arts workshops—a field in which community self-help centres specialise—and an exhibition of works by participants of support centres and wards of the Regional Hospital for the Nervously and Mentally Ill.
The event was addressed to young people, parents, employees of educational and childcare institutions, social welfare and social services workers, as well as other people seeking support or consultation regarding a psychological problem.