News Projects Social Improvement
2 min.
Concrete plans for the construction of a new assisted living facility for young people in Bonaire are being made by local housing association Fundashon Cas Bonairiano (FCB) and the Dutch Ministerie van Volksgezondheid, Welzijn en Sport (Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sport). Very recently, FCB director Ben Oleana and Deputy Secretary-General of Health, Welfare and Sport Abigail Norville signed an agreement to put the plans into action.
What’s meant exactly by 'assisted living'?
Some young people are fortunate enough to function at school and in society without too many problems. Others encounter a bit more of a challenge when it comes to leading an independent life. This can have a plethora of reasons, ranging from a tense situation at home causing problems in the young person’s general life and behaviour to physical and/or mental disabilities that make it more difficult for the person in question to live by himself or herself. Whatever the reason may be though, the solution is often comparable, namely assisted living.
At an assisted living facility, trained healthcare professionals provide the help and support needed by the young people in their care to live as independently as possible. This support can come in countless different forms, mainly because every person and their issues are personal and unique. It can vary from an occasional visit to have a chat and check how everything is going to more intensive assisted living trajectories based on 24-hour support. When it comes to assisted living, the goal is help the person in question to lead an as independent life as possible, based on his or her specific personal situation.
New facility at Kaya Mendelssohn
The new assisted living facility for young people in Bonaire will be built at Kaya Mendelssohn, in the northern part of Kralendijk, and will provide room for up to twelve people. The target segment is young people from the Caribbean Netherlands aged between 16 and 24 who are willing and capable to work towards a more independent life. Most of them will already have spent considerable time with local youth services (Jeugdzorg) and can, for whatever reason, not live at home.
The construction of the new facility represents the continuation of a successful year-long pilot project focused on assisted living for young people in Bonaire. This pilot was rated as very positive by the Inspectie Gezondheidzorg en Jeugd (Inspection Healthcare and Youth), which has allowed it to move to the next phase. At the moment, the facility is still located in a rental building in the Kaya Sabana, in the center of Kralendijk, but it will move to a new home in May 2023, when construction of the new facility should be finalized. Once young people have completed their stay at the facility by showing sufficient skills to live independently, they will move to Fundashon Cas Bonairiano’s social housing where they can take the final step towards complete, independent living.
The basis for this article was originally published on www.dossierkoninkrijksrelaties.nl in March 2022.
