{"id":35172,"date":"2026-09-15T12:46:29","date_gmt":"2026-09-15T09:46:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/developvalmiera.lv\/?p=35172"},"modified":"2026-09-15T13:08:12","modified_gmt":"2026-09-15T10:08:12","slug":"work-journey-within-the-stronger-together-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/developvalmiera.lv\/en\/work-journey-within-the-stronger-together-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Work Journey within the \u201cStronger Together\u201d Project"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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In August, Sandijs, a resident of our \u201cVanags\u201d group apartment in Valmiera, celebrated his 44th birthday. \u201cVanags\u201d has been his home for the past seven years, since we opened the group apartment, which gives people with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to live as independently as possible. It supports them in developing self-care skills and learning every day and other skills, including those needed to enter the labor market. We congratulate Sandijs and are proud of his determination and desire to make his life more fulfilling \u2013 to learn, work and contribute to the life of his local community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sandijs is also one of the participants in the \u201cStronger Together\u201d project, representing employees. He has been working as a laundry worker at the state social care center \u201cR\u016bja\u201d since 2019. It is a part-time job, in line with his abilities. However, the young man\u2019s desire to stay active means he does not want to sit idle. He was looking for additional employment opportunities, and the project proved to be a perfect fit for his needs. It helps people with disabilities enter the labor market by providing training and support to both sides \u2013 employers and employees. With the support of a mentor, Sandijs can therefore fill the second half of his working day by carrying out ground\u2019s maintenance work for the local housing cooperative \u201cAnnas 2\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Like many other people with intellectual disabilities, Sandijs finds it difficult to maintain his attention and interest for long periods of time. That is why he particularly enjoys this additional job, as his tasks vary. Most of the time, he is responsible for keeping the paved areas in the courtyard clean, but there is more to it than that \u2013 he removes weeds from paving and flower beds, collects broken branches and rakes fallen leaves from the lawn. And, as it happens, there was certainly no shortage of work after the recent storm!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI like having things to do. I really like it when someone tells me that I have done my job well. It is good that I am not alone and that there is someone I can ask how something should be done. I also like trying new things,\u201d says Sandijs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Importantly, the employer also benefits greatly from this arrangement. Finding workers for property maintenance in the city is very difficult. The solution developed and piloted during the project \u2013 \u201cEmployee as a Service\u201d \u2013 works as follows: the service provider, the social enterprise SIA \u201cSamarie\u0161u darbn\u012bcas\u201d, enters into an agreement with an employer to provide a specific service that the employer needs. In this case, \u201cAnnas 2\u201d needs grounds maintenance services, which are provided by SIA \u201cSamarie\u0161u darbn\u012bcas\u201d by employing Sandijs, who can carry out the work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the service provider, \u201cSamarie\u0161u darbn\u012bcas\u201d understands the potential employee\u2019s abilities and support needs. The employer is also familiar with these needs, having received training and\/or support. The employer does not need to establish a permanent employment relationship, while still having access to a worker who can carry out specific tasks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis is one way of integrating people with disabilities into the labor market while providing employers with knowledge and support. By getting to know a person and understanding their support needs, employers may later choose to employ them permanently, without the involvement of a social enterprise. However, this initial stage \u2013 identifying opportunities, getting to know the abilities of people with disabilities and making use of available support measures \u2013 is extremely important,\u201d emphasizes project manager Inga Brente-Mieze.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Autumn is approaching, bringing fallen leaves, followed by winter and the challenges that come with snow. Sandijs will certainly have no shortage of work!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This activity was supported as part of STRONGER TOGETHER, an Interreg Central Baltic Programme 2021-2027 project co-funded by the European Union.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Dagnija Kaklauti\u0146a
Public Relations
Latvian Samaritan Association<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In August, Sandijs, a resident of our \u201cVanags\u201d group apartment in Valmiera, celebrated his 44th birthday. \u201cVanags\u201d has been his home for the past seven years, since we opened the group apartment, which gives people with intellectual disabilities the opportunity to live as independently as possible. It supports them in developing self-care skills and learning […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":35170,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[364,355,340,365],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35172","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-en","category-news","category-news-top","category-stronger-together-en-2"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t