31.01.2023
A project that is unique in Germany has set up its office in an inconspicuous location in the old town of Gemünden – the former editorial office of the Main Post. LEILArehaktiv has the goal of making people with multiple disabilities and solidified unemployment fit for the labor market and integrating them into working life. This project of the Federal Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs is managed across districts and states by the job centers Main-Spessart, Miltenberg, the city and state of Aschaffenburg, Neckar-Odenwald and Main-Tauber.
The voluntary participants in the project will be accompanied and supported on their way back into working life for up to five years. People with health problems and various limitations can take part. A total of 210 places are planned, 30 people from the Main-Spessart district have been looked after from the office in Gemünden since the start of the project in March 2022.
District Administrator Sabine Sitter visited the LEILArehaktiv office in Gemünden last week together with Stefan Beil (Chairman of the Management of the Würzburg Employment Agency), Jürgen König (Managing Director Job Center Main-Spessart) and Jürgen Schneider (Team Leader Job Center Main-Spessart). They were welcomed there by project manager Dr. Andreas Herteux, Daniela Fritz from Handwerkskammer Service GmbH, who is responsible for implementing the project, and the three project employees on site.
Ulrike Pfeuffer, Theresa Heller and Susanne Palme, as trained geriatric nurses, psychologists and nurses with additional training as personal trainers, have various helpful qualifications for the interdisciplinary care of the participants. They carry out individual one-to-one counselling, but also strengthen shared experiences and social interaction through group activities. In addition to the practical work, the project is also scientifically supervised with the aim of drawing conclusions for placement in the labor market.
“This model project is well equipped and really helps people,” judges Jürgen König. “A reactivation phase is followed by stabilization and support for integration into the labor market,” explains Jürgen Schneider. “We have already been able to place some participants in internships.” Stefan Beil states: “The current situation on the job market means that employers also give people with disabilities a chance.” The LEILA 50+ project in the six job centers mentioned was also successful .
District Administrator Sabine Sitter welcomed the “very high-quality support ratio” of 1:12 per case manager and the dedicated work in the Gemünden office. “I am very happy that we in Main-Spessart are part of this project, which is unique in Germany. My impressions are consistently positive. I wish the case managers a lot of strength for their work and all participants that with support and guidance they can find their way back into working life.”
The picture shows the district administrator with the team from the job center and LEILArehaktiv in front of the office
in the old town of Gemünden.
Photo: Mark Rill
