At Semapa, we believe in the power of ideas and action. However simple an idea may be, it may have the power to brighten up an entire community. But we can only do this if we get close to the community. One way of getting there is by supporting and working with organisations which make a real difference in people’s lives, such as the Associação Salvador (non-profit organization).
Integrating people with physical disabilities
The mission of this association, founded by Salvador Mendes de Almeida in 2003 after an accident rendered him quadriplegic, is to foster the social integration of people with physical disabilities and to improve their quality of life. This institution – a benchmark in Portugal – has enjoyed the support of the Semapa Group from day one.
“When the Associação Salvador began and I started to build the team, my uncle’s (Pedro Queiroz Pereira) advice and all the energy he transmitted were essential. I still remember it as if it were yesterday; how important it was to have a well-trained team, with competent staff who could make a difference in people’s lives”, says Salvador Mendes de Almeida, recalling the support his uncle, the founder of the Semapa Group, always gave him.
Twenty years later, Salvador does not hesitate to say that “Semapa Group’s support has been indispensable”. Several projects have received assistance throughout this period, but for the founder of the Associação Salvador, one stands out: the Quality of Life Action, in which Semapa has made its presence felt since its first edition.
Quality of Life Action
This is a key project aiming towards the integration of disabled people, offering specific direct assistance to those who are lacking in financial resources, for the purposes of endowing them with a higher quality of life in their day-to-day. Each year, assistance in excess of 100 thousand Euros is distributed to between 35 to 40 people.
Launched in 2008, the Quality of Life Action has already changed the lives of more than 600 people, providing specific assistance which, overall, adds up to a total of over 1.7 million Euros. This assistance can materialise in a number of ways: home improvements, adapting a bathroom, installing a platform lift, or providing support in the field of adapted sports, by acquiring an adapted bicycle, for example. This action also includes financial support for employment and training, in order to promote integration in the working world and encouraging entrepreneurship.
Supporting this and many other initiatives, through its “Making it Better” objective, Semapa has become one of the main sponsors of the Associação Salvador helping to improve the lives of several disabled people and their families. In this umbilical relationship, Semapa’s involvement stretches far beyond the mere status of sponsor: the company is also part of the association’s Advisory Board, helping to outline its future, create solutions and build bridges with other initiatives.