A. Background of service provider

The NGO was established due to the needs of parents of children with disabilities, often with severe disabilities, in order to offer help for the family in the field of education, every-day life, respite care for preserving good relations in the family and many more needs.

The NGO at first focused on education, starting a school for children with special educational needs but has since developed many different branches, some of which have become their own legal entities and today are also service providers in their own right.

Tartu Maarja Support Center NGO was established in 2002.[1]

The following services are offered: Social rehabilitation, employment rehabilitation, childcare for children with disabilities, care home for children with disabilities, support home – in which children’s support services and accommodation are organised, activities centre for daily activities support, unit for trying out independent living (interval care for finding an independent living option), training and free-time courses.

Many activities are organized for children and young adults with learning disabilities. The environment where the services are offered has been developing at a rapid pace during its existence. Combined ownership is used; the NGO sourced construction resources for the interval care unit while the municipality, the City of Tartu, is the owner of the property. Since the Maarja School was established due to the initial need for education provision for young people with severe disabilities, several branches of activities and service provision offering independent living options have evolved, such as the Maarja Support Center itself and two other initiatives outside the city limits (one in the neighbouring Põlva county and one other in the neighbouring rural municipality).

The added value to society from the grassroots initiatives is the educational impact for different stakeholders, the ability of persons with disabilities to have a say on what service offering for independent living should look like, improved understanding of the target group’s needs among business and the public sector, and public sector and business involvement in the development of the environment for independent living, as well as the shaping of public opinion.

Both case studies in this paper are private bodies, established based on a mapped need for assistance and action and working for public benefit. Both have also been able to attract substantial public funding (domestic funding from State and municipal budgets) and private donations, in order to create fully accessible environments that are well-equipped and user-friendly to enable an experience similar to living in a home environment. Communicating to societal stakeholders and users of the service that more and increasingly flexible solutions are needed has proven successful, in particular as interval care leading to independent living is predominantly offered by such private stakeholders and not so much by the public or municipal providers.