The beginning: The Center for Special Education
Mare de Déu del Carme Special Education Center began to operate in the 1977-1978 academic year in premises donated by the Carmen parish in Girona, from whom it took its name. The school was born from the impulse of a group of relatives and professionals who worked with schoolchildren with slight intellectual disabilities and who wanted to continue the work they were doing at the Fornells de la Selva Psychopedagogical Medical Center. As there was no center in the Girona region that adapted to the educational needs of the students, it was the families and professionals themselves who decided to start the school.
In 1984 the Special Education Center moved to the current facilities located in the Plaza Paulí Torras de Sarrià de Ter, where the old school of the company Torras Hostench S.A. was located. The change of location made it possible to improve the attention to the students and to accept the requests of new administrations in premises that are larger than the previous ones. Currently the school has 88 students between 3 and 18 years old who come from the regions of Gironès, Pla de l’Estany, Ampurdán and La Selva. The Special Education Center has a staff of 25 professionals.
The Els Joncs Foundation
The Els Joncs Private Foundation is a non-profit organization, registered in the Catalunya Foundation register with number 597. It was established in 1991 by family members and professionals who worked at the C.E.E. Nuestra Señora del Carmen, thanks to the acquisition from the company Torras Hostench, S.A., of some facilities in the same Sarrià de Ter, in Xuncla street, number 20, very close to the school.
The Special Work Center was created in 1995 with the aim of seeking the full labor and social integration of young people with intellectual disabilities, with a special concern to give continuity to the students who finished the schooling period.
From the Special Work Center, cleaning services (parking lots, neighborhood communities, individuals, factories or industrial warehouses) of manipulated (shrink-wrapped, boxed, bagged and enveloped) copy shop and gardening services are offered.
In parallel, the Els Joncs Foundation manages, since 1999, the Occupational Insertion Service (SOI) and since 2007 the Occupational Therapy Service (STO).
In 2001, the Els Joncs Foundation obtained administrative authorization to include the school under its legal personality, when the Conselleria d’Ensenyament of the Generalitat de Catalunya approved the change of ownership, until that moment in the power of the Parents Association.
In accordance with its statutes, the Els Joncs Foundation may have the guardianship of disabled people, a function it has carried out since its inception.
On April 26, 2018 to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the school, the Els Joncs Foundation organizes a dinner at Mas Marroch del Celler de Can Roca attended by more than 530 people, and during which the innovative project was presented in society of a residence.
Currently at the Els Joncs Foundation, between the Occupational Service, the Special Work Center and the School we serve 150 people with disabilities and we have 45 professionals for this.
Associations
DINCAT
Intellectual Disability of Catalonia
Coordinadora Catalana de Fundaciones
IURA
Association of entities for the Rights of people with intellectual disabilities of the Girona regions
