Amedeea Enache from Estuar tells us more about the organisation in this month’s MHE Member Spotlight

Estuar in a few lines – what are your main activities?

The Estuar Foundation is a Romanian organisation which was set up 25 years ago to provide support to adults with mental health problems, focusing particularly on facilitating their inclusion in the community.

We were established on 13 September 1993 by the Romanian League for Mental Health and Penumbra, a Scottish mental health charity. Our aim is to develop services which reduce admissions to specialist institutions, such psychiatric hospitals.

Back in 1993 we were the first organisation in Romania to offer Protected Homes, a form of supported accommodation in the community for people experiencing mental health difficulties. At the time, this service was the only available alternative in Romania to admission to a psychiatric hospital.

Fast forward to today and we now run five social centres offering a variety of services, including: counselling and information; recovery, rehabilitation and social reintegration; occupational therapy; supported accommodation; and, home counselling.

Although we have grown, our goal remains the same – to support people in the community and provide alternatives to institutionalised care.

We now employ 20 people who support around 500 people every year. The Foundation is also supported by a team of fantastic volunteers, without whom it would be impossible to provide high quality services.

Estuar runners

What are your priorities?

As an organisation we ascribe to a set of values and principles. We believe in respecting the people we support and supporting them to live fulfilling lives in the community. We stand against discrimination and stigma, and we work to encourage tolerance and understanding and equal opportunities for all.

As an organisation we work with a variety of different groups. This includes: adults with mental health difficulties and temporary adaptation and communication problems; the families and friends of service users; specialists, such as psychiatrists, social workers, and others; and, local and national authorities. As such, we have a variety of strategic priorities for the future:

• Develop Estuar through social services consolidation, focusing on strategic partnerships to create new mental health services
• Consolidation and development of our team in order to sustain excellency in the mental health field
• Research in mental health
• Lobbying and advocacy, and strategic promotion of the Foundation

Where can we hear from you?

For more information about us visit our website – www.estuar.org – or find us on social media:

• Social media