Mission, goals, philosophy
Our goal is:
- Build a community of people with and without disabilities based on our identity and mission.
- Develop a community life.
- Incorporate our community into the international community of L’Arche.
Our mission is:
- Show the uniqueness of each person, including people with mental disabilities, to develop their abilities and charisms and to reveal their benefits for society.
- Work with people with disabilities in the form of community.
- Form volunteers through community building assistance and through relationships with people with mental disabilities.
- Restoration of local cultural and Christian heritage (traditions, celebrations, cultural events, traditional crafts).
- Restoration of local historically significant buildings and their filling with life in the sense of our mission.
- Participation in the sustainable development of the place and the landscape.
Motto: To connect the uniqueness of a place and the uniqueness of a person.
Our philosophy is:
We are convinced that for the quality of social services we provide it is necessary to proceed from the following facts:
- All people are equal in terms of their value, dignity and usefulness for society. A person's value does not depend on their abilities, it is not reduced by their limitations or differences.
- A balance of physical, mental and spiritual needs is important for the overall satisfaction of a person and the harmony of their personality (including a person with a disability).
- To meet these needs, not only the quality of given care is sufficient, but also the possibility of developing a person's personality in the relationship between people with disabilities and people without disabilities because a person can fully develop only in a quality community of other people.
- In Benediktus, we are inspired by the life of the L’Arche communities – communities in which people with disabilities live together with people without disabilities. We learn to live in a community, to reveal our vocation to live in relationships with the people with disabilities and with each other, to cooperate, to build community, ... In the community, everyone is called to cooperate. Each member of the community cooperates because all are fond of each other and feel that they want to walk in the same direction. Everyone has a gift which they try to develop, everyone has their work. The community requires precise organization and discipline. This applies to living together, where you need to cook, shop, wash dishes, clean, wash, receive visits, secure finances, ...
- An important part of living together is work - the opportunity to develop your skills, to realize yourself in something one can do, what one enjoys, in what is useful and beneficial to others. As in other L’Arche communities, there are various workshops where we work together: craft workshops, ceramics, weaving, art, garden, music etc. The workshops are a place of joint work, creative activity, therapy and especially a place of intensive relationships between assistants and people with disabilities.
- We try to make celebrations to have an important place in the community - common prayers, trips, meetings, celebrations. The celebration is fuel for the heart, restoring hope and strength so that we can survive the sufferings and problems of the daily life. People need the time when everyone meets, thanks for the community, for life, singing together, dancing, talking ...