There is one big question our young people face every year, that is - what to do after finishing the school? The same question is being asked by the handicapped youngsters whose perspectives are by far more limited. Every young person aims to find purpose in life, self-realization, to feel necessary, to communicate with other people and to work according to their abilities.

The majority of the intellectually handicapped young people have only two options in Estonia today; to continue their life in a care-home or to stay with their parents for the rest of their lives.

Steps have been taken to provide the humane living and working conditions for mentally handicapped young people – there are a few villages where these youngsters  live and work. The need for such villages is immense and is constantly growing.

Hence the parents of the children studying in the Tartu Maarja School decided to establish a foundation of “Maarja Päikesekodu” on the 18-th of April 2008. The main purpose of this organization is to make a home for the mentally- and multi-handicapped young people. That kind of home enables young people who start their independent life there, to get a life-long training and have suitable working environment.

The beginners of the foundation “Maarja Päikesekodu” have set that there will be 24residenst in this new village: 12 heavy- or severe handicapped and 12 deep- or multi-handicapped youngsters. This arrangement will require four different houses, 6 youngsters in each. In addition there will be a separate house for the staff. We wish to offer our employees the possibility to live in this village.

The preferred future home residents are the children from the Maarja school. There will also be staying some people in this village who help the mentally handicapped young people to cope with their every day life. The Maarja Päikesekodu will definitely have its own product – so to say the niche by which it is being recognized and that is specific to this home.

We believe that mentattly handicapped people are able to cope independently with their lives, that they can develop. They are taught and they are trained to take responsibility in their own home, it will be stressed that they are adults and living by themselves without their parents (mother and father) looking after them. In this way the youngsters feel responsible and as full and equal members of the society.

We have only just started and there is very much work to be done. At this point we only have the vision and the statute of the future home village for the mentally handicapped persons. The founder members of our home village expect great interest from the public, not only from those who are familiar with the current theme through own personal experience. There are examples in Estonia and abroad, we also hope to raise interest among local entrepreneurs and private persons to assist in establishing this new village.

The eldest of the future village residents are now 15 years of age which means that the first house should be ready to be moved in latest 3 years from now. In order to provide this there are several facilities and materials to provide (land, building materials).