Help People with Intellectual Disabilities -Serbia

Next Gen

“My KEC internship is how I knew I was on the right academic and professional path,” said Marijana a fourth year psychology student at Singidunum University. After almost four years of studying psychology Marijana wasn’t certain how she would put all her theoretical knowledge to use or if it even had any practical application. That changed when she began her six months internship at KEC. She was one of more than the 200 hundred Singidunum students finishing degrees in psychology and social work who have interned at KEC over the past seven years. For a minimum of 40 hours students come to KEC to see for the first time what it will be like to put their academic knowledge to work. Working alongside KEC  staff these students have the opportunity to develop and implement their own programming. “KEC gave me my first chance to work with people with various intellectual and developmental disabilities,” said Ana a fourth year social work student, “but what was most meaningful was when I saw that my work made an impact on the beneficiaries.”

In addition to creating and implementing programs the interns are provided with supervision from the KEC professional staff. In the warm and friendly environment of the KEC center the interns get feedback and guidance from the experienced professional team. Interns are also taught how to navigate the bureaucratic and administrative elements of working and running a center of this nature. As Marijana, Ana and the other interns enter the workforce this internship will have provided them with the skills to easily integrate into any workplace in this field. One common remark from all the internship alumni is that after their time at KEC they feel much more confident about their ability to find a job and how they will perform once they have one.

KEC is excited that over the past seven years it has been so closely involved in helping shape and inspire future professionals in the social service fields. This new generation of teachers, psychologists and social workers are the ones who will serve our beneficiaries for the next decades and we are honored to have a role in helping them grow.

Your continued support enables this and all of KEC’s other programming.

The winter holidays are behind us but we wanted to take a minute to reflect on all the individuals and organizations that pulled together once again to help us ensure that each of our beneficiaries had a small bit of cheer during the holiday season. Many of our beneficiaries do not have family, some are even homeless and of those who are at home with family most live in very difficult socio-economic conditions. So most of our beneficiaries do not get presents on the holidays.

With that in mind every year KEC gives itself the mission to make sure that every beneficiary gets a holiday present. Considering our limited resources our last resort is to buy the presents ourselves. Instead, weeks before the holidays KEC staff starts contacting individual donors, donor organizations and companies to see if they have something to donate to our “present fund”. Our partners range from large NGOs to local citizens. Many times the answer is “No” but the KEC staff keeps asking until it is sure that it has collected enough items for all of our beneficiaries to get a package.

Then the hard part begins. In the midst of the holiday madness that takes over the city our staff  and volunteers must run from place to place to collect the boxes of cookies, winter clothes, toys, or pre-packaged presents. As the center fills up with all these treats the excitement builds. Finally, the day arrives when the packages are handed out and all the smiling faces make the weeks of effort worthwhile.

With the last of the holiday decorations put away, we wanted to thank all of you who helped out by making a donation, driving around to pick up the donations or helping us package them up. The joy that comes in those boxes goes a long way to making sure our beneficiaries feel safe, happy and loved.  Regardless of whether they live on the streets, alone or with their own family members they all know that they have the KEC family with them.

From all of us at KEC we wish you a healthy and happy 2022.