The Social Welfare Home (DPS) has been operating since February this year (on 28 February, the Lower Silesian Voivode issued official approval). Seven people live there now. The staff are waiting for more residents.
– This is to be a home in every sense of the word – says acting director Bogusław Szeffs. – When selecting employees, we focused mainly on their attitude towards other people, especially elderly people. Here, older people are to find an alternative to loneliness, lack of care and lack of contact with others.
The people who already live at 17 Piastów Street meet one another, help each other and spend time together, going for walks and visiting exhibitions. Other forms of entertainment are planned. The DPS wants to cooperate with cultural institutions in the city (BOK-MCC, the Ceramics Museum) and with the Orka swimming pool, and even with the allotment gardens next to the Home.
– A few days after moving into the DPS, Mr Sławek said that he felt like living again – recounts Jerzy Małachowski, head of the administration and facilities department. – Residents need one another’s company, but also attention. They do not want to be forgotten. They tell us stories from their lives, about their experiences, successes and failures.
Older people who use the Day Care Home visited the DPS while construction work was under way. They chose rooms for themselves. They were the ones who initiated the construction of the Social Welfare Home. Karolina Gołębiowska-Wrzałko speaks with great warmth about her first visit to the mayor concerning the construction of such a home. – He received us and took us seriously – says the senior gratefully. – He said it was an important matter, and he did not let us down.
The seniors confirm her words. They speak about why care homes for older people are so necessary. In the past, families were multigenerational, and grandparents had an inheritance at their disposal. Older people were respected. – Now Grandmother’s pension is good, but Grandmother is rejected – says Cecylia Maryniak.
The need for respect, attention and recognition of their needs brings older people to the Social Welfare Home. But above all, they do not want to be a burden to anyone.
The Home has three floors and is surrounded by a park with walking paths and benches. On the ground floor, residents have access to a dining room, guest room, therapy room, exercise room and a room equipped for rehabilitation and physiotherapy. A chapel is located just inside the entrance to the building. The first and second floors contain comfortably furnished single and double rooms, a common room and a small auxiliary kitchen. Every room has a bathroom and a balcony.
To be admitted to the Social Welfare Home in Bolesławiec, applicants must complete a set of documents (available at the DPS at 17 Piastów Street), which must be submitted to MOPS. Once a place has been granted, the Home’s resident pays 70% of their pension, but no more than the full statutory cost of residence, which is PLN 2,694.74. If the percentage of the pension is less than the statutory amount, the family pays the difference; if this is impossible, the difference is paid by the municipality from which the person comes.
The ceremonial opening of the Social Welfare Home will take place on 2 April at 11:00.
(information: Grażyna Hanaf)