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Life on the vineyard: A model for inclusion in Vogelsberg!
In the Vogelsberg district, the “Life on the Vineyard” project promotes inclusion and social participation for people with disabilities.
Life on the vineyard: A model for inclusion in Vogelsberg!
What's happening in Stockhausen? Today we look at the neighborhood community “Leben am Weinberg”, which is a true showcase project for inclusion and participation. First district councilor Patrick Krug is extremely impressed by this facility, which has been enriching the lives of people with and without disabilities for over two decades. The community was founded in 1999 by social educators Heike and Pierre Haas when they purchased a spacious plot of 4,000 square meters, originally built for the castle's gardener.
The first shared apartment with two women started in 2000, and since then the concept has evolved to this day. There are currently 13 people living at the vineyard, five of whom need assistance. The “Leben am Weinberg” association, which has existed since 2014, actively promotes inclusion and participation in the region.
Living together with responsibility
A central feature of the community is the focus on self-determination and neighborly support. Professional assistance is individually tailored to the needs of the residents in order to create a lively social space and strengthen social contacts. For example, shared apartment member Kerstin Müller regularly cooks for an elderly woman in Stockhausen to avoid social isolation. This impressively shows how much value is placed on working together.
Patrick Krug emphasizes the importance of such projects for participation in rural areas. Pierre Haas' wish to see more such initiatives in other municipalities in the Vogelsberg is not only understandable, but also urgently needed. The two are also calling for improvements in the infrastructure, such as better local public transport and the construction of a cycle path to Lauterbach and Müs.
Inclusion advice in Hesse
But it's not just in Stockhausen that there are efforts to promote inclusion. The INKLU advice center in Hesse, which is supported by the anti-discrimination office in the Hessian Ministry of Labor, Integration, Youth and Social Affairs, also supports people with disabilities. It offers parents advice on inclusive schools, supports transitions between educational institutions and cooperates closely with regional offers. The advice center is a valuable resource for parents and students, says the Together Life Hessen website.
If you would like to contact the INKLU advice center, you can find further information on this website, where the telephone number and email address are also published.
As the discussion about good infrastructure shows, there are creative ideas on how the existing offering can be improved. Krug recognizes the infrastructure problems and suggests pragmatic solutions, such as better networking of transport and community buses. In addition, the standards for the construction of cycle paths should be lowered so that less developed paths can also be used.
In summary, it can be said that “Life on the Vineyard” is not only a place of community, but can also serve as a model for other inclusion projects. With the right commitment and appropriate improvements in infrastructure, this idea could be successful in many other municipalities.