Saúde Criança Florianópolis

About us

GIVE YOUR HAND TO A CHILD AND HELP HIM FOR EVER

Saúde Criança Florianópolis is a non-profit organization not referring to any political or religious association. Our work is to support the structure and independency of socially disadvantaged families with children. The families are sent to Saúde Criança Florianópolis from the public health centers.
Saúde Criança Florianópolis was founded in December 2008 by the pediatrician Marisa Fatin and Bebhinn Ramsay and is part of the franchise of Saúde Criança, that was initiated 1991 by Dr. Vera Cordeiro in Rio de Janeiro. The franchise Saúde Criança has five more organizations in five different states of Brazil.

HOW DID THIS CAME ABOUT?
Dr. Vera Cordeiro, who worked in a children hospital in Rio de Janeiro noticed, that many children recurrend were hospitalized. They were nursed back to health, but were sent back to their poverty stricken districts without any medical aftercare. A few weeks later the children came back, often with serious illnesses. A vicious circle.
Dr. Cordeiro started to ask the mothers why their children can't raise healthy. The analyze has shown: many mothers raise their children alone, without any support. The lived in leak houses, they didn't have any basic knowledge about food, hygiene and other health subjects. Not surprising, that the amount of relapses were that high.

Saúde Criança helped children successfully with its proven method since 20 years by eliminating the reasons of the diseases.

OUR WORK IN FLORIANÓPOLIS:
Saúde Criança Florianópolis exists since 2008. Since then we took care of 117 families from the surrounded Favelas in the form of a “Family-Action-Plan”. It covers 5 areas:

1. Health
2. Education
3. Family income
4. Adequate housing
5. Right and duties for citizens

We accompany the families for 2 years. In these 5 areas they should develop. They get help and support to stabilize their family relation.
Actually (2014) we take care of 41 Families and 117 Children.

VALUES - VISON - MISSION:

Our VALUES are: social responsibility, solidarity, transparency and social justice

Our VISION is that through our new method and the multidisciplinarity we can fight the poverty and can work for a world in there human rights and social inclusion are reality.

Our MISSION is to promote the biopsychological well-being of the children and their family, who live below the poverty line. By this we mean health in its whole form as an instrument of social inclusion – therefore the restructuring of the families in social risk situations and their children who get help at the public hospitals in the Greater Florianópolis.

HOW DO WE WANT TO PUT IT INTO PRACTICE?
We work together with the whole family! The supported families have to participate ACTIVELY.
With the help of the “Family-Action-Plan” (PAF) the families get support individual and interdisciplinary in the 5 areas; for that we have beside the care from social assistance and nutritionists also doctors, physiotherapists, dentists, lawyers, educator and psychologists.
The families have to participate actively. Every family has at least one day of the month, where they sit together with our social assistance. Their they check the previous goals and if the family has reached it and make new goals for the next month. All in form of the “Family-Action-Plan”. Goals which have not reached by the family were discussed together and then they will make a strategy together, how the family will reach that goal. Until the next meeting the family especially the mother put the goals to practice. If the family needs help they can get it from us.

We help the WHOLE family to get official documents (e.g. identity card, income tax card …). The families learn what kind of social help they are entitled to. Because the whole family get support the principle “help through self-help” affects in many ways. We have also the hope that this will radiate on the next generations.

Furthermore we offer TRAINING COURSES. Two times a week we have a hand craft course, that all mothers can visit. Here they do not just learn the hand craft but also the calculation of costs and prices; and they sell their crafted products on local markets by themselves. During the hand craft course our carers and volunteers look after the children. Furthermore we have a joint cooking during the care days, which is prepared by the mothers. With the help of our nutritionist they learn to compliance hygiene standards, to use new foodstuff and to prepare healthy food. They learn what implies balanced and healthy food to fight the malnutrition and to use the food, which is available for them, in the best way.

THE SITUATION IN FLORIANÓPOLIS:
More or less 16% of the inhabitants of Florianópolis are living in the Favelas. But it is hard to make exact data because many families are not registered by the city.

OUR PROJECT ON BETTERPLACE.ORG:
We need more space URGENTLY! This is why we plan to build a new care center for the families.
The wish for a bigger house with more and also adequate room is expressed by the mothers. We work in rooms in which several mothers have to speak with our social assistance at the same time. Often they have delicate subjects like: drug abuse, domestic violence, fears, family problems, family planning and sexually transmitted diseases.
To get more privacy for the family and to take care better we need new rooms as soon as possible.

For that we started to search for a new plot, which was not that easy. We found a plot and bought it with the help of many people. Now we need your support to build a new care center so that we can adequately take care of the children and their families. Furthermore many more families wait for getting help but at the moment we can not afford it.

Also the planing of the new building was made together with the mother

Give your hand to a child – help with your heart – and make hope for the families for a better life!

Let us help together to give the children a better future.

For a better impression you can watch our films about our work on YouTube:
From the whole organization: http://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpn-dbJisjC3ggiqBy16Gsw
From Florianópolis: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSqCMnZoSJE