The Presidential Grants Fund administered new funds for state support of non-profit organizations. How it was done in the Komi Republic
The story of the Smart City and the School of Survival
The Smart Sity
The Smart City project received a grant for 497297 rubles, the idea was developed by the Project 1780 community (Syktyvkar was founded in 1780).
«The name of the project contains our concept of the development of Syktyvkar. Our idea is to create public spaces in the town, different in design and purpose, but united by one idea: the space itself should develop a person, expand his horizons," the authors wrote in the abstract.
They have already created a composition for Ust-Sysolsk Gaming Tables for the project, where everyone can play board games on the history of Syktyvkar (until 1930 it was called Ust-Sysolsk, because it is located on the Sysola river). With the grant money, the authors of the project want to improve two more places: a square for young mothers and an adaptive sports town — both ideas are meant to be brought to life in the park of Kirov.
In the square for young mothers, it will be possible to swaddle children quietly, breastfeed them, and read about pedagogical concepts of known scientists: Maria Montessori, Janusz Korchak, Anton Makarenko, Shalva Amonashvili, Lev Vygotsky, etc.
In the adaptive town (already installed by the Ramp organization), the organizers want to educate visitors with interesting facts from the sports life of Komi. For example, they will tell about the achievements of athletes Raisa Smetanina, Vasily and Nikolai Bazhutov, Anatoly Polyakov, Andrei Sokolov and other natives of the Republic.
The School of Survival
This project was created by activists of the Republican branch of the Special Needs Сhildhood organization with its head — Yulia Posevkina. This non-profit organization already has a center for training people with disabilities for independent life. The School of Survival is designed for teenagers with mental disabilities, its authors call the project unique in Komi and in Russia. They plan to prepare "special needs" children for independent adulthood and give them skills for socialization. The grant amount is 2 million rubles.
«In the School, teenagers will learn communication skills, the art of public speaking, making and maintaining friendships, listening to each other, recognizing the intentions of other people, resisting bullying [everyday aggression and insults]. They will be trained to navigate the city, will study their rights. A large block is aimed at teaching youth subculture. Everything is aimed at maximum socialization of adolescents. In total, the School will teach two streams of three groups with six participants,» the authors of the project wrote.
The authors justified the need for such a school by the fact that adolescents with disabilities are subject to a lot of risks in independent life:
"They do not know how to stand up for themselves, they behave inappropriately, causing aggression from their peers. Almost every teenager in this category suffers from bullying. They are naive, gullible, and often fall victim to swindlers. It is difficult for them to understand and share the interests of their peers. This, coupled with the above, does not allow them to find friends. As a result, adolescents are deprived of the chance of normal interaction with the world around them." The authors of the project want to compensate for these difficulties for "special needs" children.
Other Projects
In addition to the School and the Smart City, the Presidential Grants Fund supported the Riding School for the disabled, the rehabilitation center for drug and alcohol addicts, the Ӧshkamӧshka (Komi for «rainbow») multicultural ethnic school and others. The Classics and Modernity Cultural Fund (the President of which is Olga Sosnovskaya) received the biggest grant - 11 million rubles for the young vocalists’ competition of Olga Sosnovskaya.