Since 2008, the Centre LIVING UPRIGHT, founded in 2002, has been organizing personal assistance services, for which it has had a license from the Ministry of Labour, Employment, Veterans and Social Affairs since June 2014. The Centre initiated the launch of the personal assistance service in Novi Sad and its mainstreaming into the Decisions on Social Protection of the City of Novi Sad and the Municipality of Bačka Palanka. Also, as the outcome of the Centre advocacy, the City of Novi Sad is the only one in Serbia since June 2021 to specifically co-finance the optimal level of personal assistance services, including all-day support, but it still does not cover the full amount of support to those needing the simultaneous assistance of 2 persons for transfer and it doesn’t any other labour related cost, but delivered service per hour only.
The personal assistance service, along with accessibility, experiential support, decision-making support and sign language interpretation, is a prerequisite for independent living for disabled persons who need it. It also includes the physical support of another person in all life activities and for all needs that a person cannot do alone. With assistance, the person who uses it independently decides on everything that concerns them and functions independently in all life situations.
Since March 2010, the Center has been providing peer support to everyone who asks for it. One of these two types of support for independent living or both have been used by more than 350 people so far. Assistance in the organization of the Centre is currently used by one person, the non-financial part of the support is provided to two female students and one girl is provided with decision-making support.
In Novi Sad, from 2009 to 2019, in the project phase, City approved less funds through donations than the necessary amount to cover the costs of organizing the personal assistance service, which was compensated by donations. This resulted in a block of 5,635,000 RSD for contributions and 1.9 million dinars for indirect costs of personal assistance and peer support in 2023, for which the City approved donations, which could not be paid due to the block from last year, while in the meantime, the program implementation period has expired. Then, the will continue to raise funds for uncovered labour cost from 2021-2023, which is due to the ban of employment in the public sector.
From 2017 to 2022, the Centre organized PA service, including raising funds for it, to 5 persons who temporarily or permanently did not have the right to its financing, but they needed it.
The focus of the campaign is on collecting funds to eliminate tax debt and pay expenses from May to December 2023. All other solutions are temporary because due to changes in the Law on Payment Transactions from 2023, all funds, except for donations and humanitarian aid, are subject to blocking. The Centre cannot organize a personal assistance service with city and municipal funds until it is unblocked.
The Centre is urgently seeking donor support to remove the blockage and prevent further increase in debt with daily interest approximately 15 EUR. Donations can be made online through the campaign PODRŽITE RAD CENTRA “ŽIVETI USPRAVNO” | Donacije.rs page or by payments in RSD to its bank account for donation 340-11001286-31 or to its basic bank account 340-5350-79, from which the debt under blockade is being directly collected or in other currencies following these instructions:
SWIFT CODE: GIBARS22
ERSTE BANK A.D. NOVI SAD
BENEFICIARY:
IBAN: RS35340000000000535079
NAME: CENTAR ZIVETI USPRAVNO
ADDRESS: TRG SLOBODE 3, NOVI SAD
Annex
EXCERPT FROM THE MANUAL HOW TO SUPORT FUND RAISING CAMPAIGN ON DONACIJE.RD BY THE CATALYST BALKANS
- On the campaign page press DONIRAJ (DONATE), then chose the amount of donation (izaberite iznos donacije) and currency (field in the right upper corner)
- Than you can choose to support the platform Donacije.rs (PODRŠKA PLATFORMI)since it operates without s fee or commission from 0 to 30% of the donated amount or write the amount in the chosen currency (Drugi iznos za podršku platformi) in the filed bellow. Than click on DALJE (CONTINUE)
- In the next fields, write your data: Name (Ime), Last name (Prezime), Address, Phone No. (Broj telefona), Country (Država), City (Grad) or Anonymous Donation (Anonimna donacija, click Da (Yes) or Ne (No).
- Check Slažem se s uslovima korišćenja (I agree with the terms of use). Than Click on DALJE (CONTINUE)
- Chose Plati (Pay) or Odustani (Cansel)
- Merchant: Broj kartice (Card Number – no spaces), Datum isteka kartice (Card expiry date – month/year), CVC2/ CVV2 Code, Transaction Description (Opis transakcije), Transaction Amount (Iznos transakcije)
