MARGARITA Vocational Training Center
MARGARITA Vocational Training Center (MARGARITA VTC) is an organization with more than 40 years of experience in educational and vocational training of young people with intellectual disabilities in Attica, Greece. It was founded in 1979 by Ioanna Tsokopoulou, mother of Leonidas, a child with Down Syndrome.
The aim of MARGARITA is the empowerment of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, in order to become more autonomous and active citizens in an inclusive society. For this reason, to this day MARGARITA offers user-centered services to its service users and their families based on their wishes, needs and talents in the following fields:
- human rights,
- supported employment,
- supported decision making,
- self-advocacy,
- development of new training tools,
- supported living,
- social entrepreneurship,
- art
- and services of the elderly.
MARGARITA has been responsible for the implementation of European and national projects and is a member of important European consortia.
At the same time, it develops initiatives and good practices, two of which are:
- 13m2Gallery that operates since 2018 in the Municipal Market of Kypseli, is part of the wider project “Artistic Margarita” together with the Atelier and the Troupe creating a unit where talented beneficiaries have the opportunity to develop professionally in the field of art
- and the digital platform ergasiamou.gr that organizes and supports the access of people with intellectual disabilities to the labour market.
MARGARITA is a member of European and international umbrella organizations (e.g., EASPD, ENCC, etc.).