The Social Activity Center is to arouse good emotions, be vibrant with life, and gather local residents, regardless of age. - Our role is not to copy the usual patterns but to show a new, more interesting alternative for spending free time with children, as well as alternatives for a different, better life for their parents. And we do it - says Wioletta Grosicka, director of the Social Services Center in Starachowice.

The Social Activity Center in the Wzgórze estate includes: a community club, created in the place of former storage rooms, and four protected apartments located on the first floor of the building. Both the sheltered flats and the common room have occupied places, and there are waiting lists for other volunteers.

For running the Social Activity Center, the Starachowice Commune obtained funds from the project "Direction Future - Starachowice Local Development Programme" financed from the Norwegian Financial Mechanism for 2014-2021 (85%) and the State Budget (15%) from the Local Development Programme.

Sheltered housing
The sheltered apartments located above the common room operate as part of the project "CUS model of integration and development of social services", which included the transformation of the Starachowice Municipal Social Welfare Center into the Social Services Center.

- Training sheltered flats are intended for people who are in a difficult life situation, a crisis - informs the director of CUS Wioletta Grosicka. – Persons applying for sheltered housing must document their situation. Demonstrate that they need an apartment for a certain period when they will work on getting out of the crisis so that they can start functioning independently.

Individual consulting

Protected flats located in the Wzgórze estate are small and fully equipped with the necessary appliances and furniture. - This is a temporary haven because a person can occupy a sheltered apartment for a maximum of 2 years and that is how much time they must improve their situation and overcome the crisis - informs the CUS director. – People occupying the premises are supported by social workers and the apartment supervisor.

Residents are helped by experts in getting out of difficult life situations in which they found themselves most often because of sudden random events. Director Grosicka informs that the specialists employed in the project provide professional assistance to tenants occupying sheltered flats. They are a lawyer, financial advisor, psychologist, and activity coach.

Environmental lounge
The community day room operating under the Norwegian Financial Mechanism, intended mainly for children from the Wzgórze estate, but not only, enjoy great interest.
- There are 30 places in the common room, all of them are occupied and a few people are waiting on the reserve list. Not only children are provided with care because as part of the Social Activity Centre, but we also conduct activities aimed at parents, and we support entire communities - informs the director of CUS.

Children aged 6 to 16 stay here from 12.00 to 18.00. They are looked after by the facility manager, tutor, and tutor's assistant.

The offer of classes in which they participate is varied and adapted to the season and the school calendar. When classes are held in schools, the caretakers of the daycare center focus on helping the pupils with their homework, because they cannot always receive such help at home. Thanks to the funds from the project, tutoring in English, and Polish and mathematics is conducted in the common room, as well as training in creative thinking.