Social and Employment
Place
Saint-Gaudens, Haute-Garonne, France
Sponsor
Sylvie Petryszyn
Grant(s)
40 000 € to the Selection Committee at 2007/01/31
Project leader
Épicure
«The association has succeeded in obtaining the support of the local politicians as well as the support of specialised eye doctors and opticians of all kind, even of renewed professionnals in the hotel industry. Its project which consist of creating a social medical center specialised in training for catering jobs is really innovative. I myself became a visually impaired person at the age of 50. I have been able to keep working because of special equipment. The creation of such a center, devoted to work, in the South West of France, is expected with joy by many visually handicapped people».
Sylvie Petryszyn
Today, only two functional rehabilitation centers for people having eyes deficiencies exist in France : one set in the Paris area (in Marly-le-Roi), the other located in Nîmes. The demand is so strong that frequently the waiting list lasts around ten months before acceptance to either of the two centers.
Founded by a dentist who suffered from eye disease at the age of 32, the Epicure Association near the Pyrenees at Saint-Gaudens is now involved in the fight.
The Epicure association has obtained the necessary agreements and finances to create a clinic for those visually handicapped who need reeductation and functional rehabilitation for their eyes, as well as a program center to train these people for hotel jobs.
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