COOPERATIVA GEA

Gea is a social cooperative established in Novara in 2001 and is a recognized entity for disability management. It manages apartment groups and micro-residential activities for adults with psycho-intellectual disabilities. “Apartment groups” created as a result of the deinstitutionalization provided by the national law 180/78 (Basaglia Law) are residential facilities of continuity of care.
Depending on the type (type A or type B), different social-health and educational figures are involved in the management of apartment groups.
The GEA cooperative operates with a view to networking and collaboration with the realities of the territory, both with those that deal purely with disabilities and with those that operate in other areas, always related to social contexts. GEA has distinguished itself in the panorama of its territory by carrying out intense awareness-raising activities aimed at breaking down the social stigma that has always held against mental disability and psychiatric suffering.
In December 2019, Gea began working on a new project, “Bisogni e Desideri” (Needs and Desires), which provided educational interventions on families with young children with mild intellectual disabilities with the aim of enhancing their autonomy and socialization skills through various activities in order to maintain their home care and avoid their institutionalization.
The good results obtained led Gea to devise “Ricomincio da me” (Starting over from me), a new assisted living service for people with mild disabilities that will make it possible to respond to a great need related to the management of people with mild intellectual disabilities: that of embarking on the road to a life as autonomous as possible. The service, supported by Restart Italia, will provide the possibility for selected people to stay in apartments that could be a launching pad toward a more autonomous condition, or provide a solution for longer periods of time. In addition, the GEA Cooperative will also initiate training courses for apartment guests to facilitate their approach to and insertion into the world of work.