About us
A brief history of Ruse’s Complex of Social Services for children and families
In 2004, the deteriorating husk of Ruse’s ‘Hristo Smirnenski’ school was given a substantial facelift so as to accommodate both the new Complex of Social Services (the Social Support Centre and the Centre for Street Children) and the offices of the region’s Child Protection Department (CPD). The planners were acknowledging the synergy that binds the two services – while some clients of the centre are self-referred the vast majority derives from the CPD.
The third arm of the Complex – Mother and Baby Unit – was located in a purpose built facility in ‘Neofit Rilski’ Street. In 2008 the Municipal Council supported a decision to change the building to serve as a small group home which remains within the Complex.
The new complex was officially opened on 3rd October, 2005 and started to operate under the management of CARE-BG supervised and supported technically by Georgy Simeonov - project manager, as one of ten similar facilities situated in Bulgaria’s major cities.
A human approach
“Recognizing the worthy aspects of your environment and learning to nurture them in a spirit of optimism and respect is a profoundly transformational experience. EQ teaches people to take personal responsibility for their own futures - it’s as simple as that.”
-- Extracted from EQ’s mission statement
In the approach to any undertaking, attitude is everything. We try very hard to ensure that a spirit of humour and optimism pervades everything that we do. It energizes the team and rubs off on the clients. We seek a lightness of touch in our work and, in our early approach to the complex, we’ve set about defrosting all things clinical and replacing all things rigid with more malleable alternatives. Standards and guidelines are important but they need to be imbedded in a culture that runs on common sense and human responsiveness.
We have a variety of different characters within the extended EQ team and they express themselves in different ways. However, we share a conviction that shapes our approach. Among the children and families that we work with there is a common characteristic – relationships between individuals and the world around them are out of kilter. There is nothing intrinsically wrong with the individual that precludes inclusion and there’s no point in trying to change the world on a grand scale (using a sledgehammer to crack a nut). It’s a question of striking a balance between human needs and aspirations and achievable circumstances – creating Equilibrium.