Taichung city had the fourth service center of people with disabilities and older two-generation family opened in Beitun District today (8th) where there are three days a week of day care spot activities and courses provided by Eden Social Welfare Foundation. The center will also send the volunteers to care the families by visiting or phone calls; it’s estimated to be able to cover 120 older two-generation families needing assistance. Deputy Mayor Yi-ying Lin said, there has been 37 people with disabilities and older two-generation family day care spots in Taichung with the highest density of such a spot in Taiwan. Taichung City Government will continue to do better for the long term care service in the communities or families and provide the supporting networks for the older two-generation families. Moreover, there will be more cross-departmental plans to have the people with disabilities to move more freely.

Today (5th), the opening ceremony of Taichung people with disabilities and older two-generation family supporting service （Zone 3）has had many important people to join in, including Deputy Mayor Yi-ying Lin, Deputy Director of Social Affairs Bureau Chun-liang Chen, Executive of Beitun District Chi-jun Lin, Councilor Ya-ling Tsai and Deputy Chief Executive of Eden Social Welfare Foundation Wen-bin Lin etc. to unveil the board. Some desserts like tangyuan and tea break were prepared on site to celebrate the housewarming.

「Lucky Great Taichung！」Deputy Mayor Lin said, Eden Social Welfare Foundation is continuously dedicating to help the people with disabilities since Ms Hsia Liu formed the Foundation. They also have many innovative initiatives and facilitate the supporting service for the people with disabilities and older two-generation family in Taichung because they found a lot of older parents still have to take care of their adult children with disabilities and they do need helps. Sometimes, the aging of the people with disabilities will be faster and may need to be cared earlier before 65 years old.

Deputy Mayor Lin has indicated that there have been 37 people with disabilities and older two-generation family day care spots available in Taichung and the fourth older two-generation family service center was opened today. It can provide the open space for courses and activities, moreover, the staffs of center will step out of the center to help 120 older two-generation families at their home. Especially, to find a place to arrange for the people with disabilities is not the best solution for them so the City Government has tried hard to upgrade the long term care service in communities and families to provide the integrated service cross expertise. And make the people with disabilities can stay at their own houses as appropriate in addition to provide the supporting networks for the older two-generation families.

Deputy Chief Executive of Eden Social Welfare Foundation Wen-bin Lin said, if we’d like to know the intrinsic essence of a city, we can check if the services for the elderly or people with disabilities are good enough. This year is the 35th anniversary of Eden Social Welfare Foundation, there’re still many issues waiting to be resolved. People all will get old, the supports needed by the older two-generation families are diverse, including the facilities and psychological supports. We hope everyone can feel the sense of belonging and find his or her confidence here.

Councilor Ya-ling Tsai mentioned, the combination of the City Government and Eden Social Welfare Foundation was a good example to demonstrate the collaborations between public and private sectors. Everyone should be more compassionate and make the society filled with power of love.

Usually, 77 year-old mother Lu will bring her 52 year-old daughter, Shiu-chin, with mild mental retardation to participate in the activities held in the spots. Today, she has got on the stage for share the change of her daughter after she participating in the activities here. She looks forward to attending the courses here every day so mother Lu can have a break and feel relieved when they’re here. And she has the opportunity to taste the hand-made cookies made by her daughter so she wishes the older two-generation family center can increase the frequency of the courses.

As the Mother’s Day is approaching so Deputy Mayor Lin sent the carnations to mother Lu and expressed her respect to the great mothers for the nonstop loves to their children. The atmosphere of the event was warm and touching.

The officer of Social Affairs Bureau said, the so-called people with disabilities and older two-generation family is the family with more than 55 year-old of parents to care more than 35 year-old of adult children with disabilities. According to the 2016 survey report of the living requirements of people with disabilities in Taichung, 86% of people with disabilities were living at home and 45～65 year-old of age group took 35%; their major caregivers were parents taking 34.8% and the proportion was the highest one. 61% of parents were more than 55 years old. If we calculate the number based on more than 121 thousand of people with disabilities, there should be near 8,000 people with disabilities and older two-generation families in Taichung. They are critically requiring the supporting service of caregivers.

Therefore, Taichung city has the first people with disabilities and older two-generation family day care spots domestically to share the loading of the caregivers in such the kind of family. Meanwhile, the activities held in the day care spots will help the people with disabilities and their caregivers to engage with the communities. So far, 37 people with disabilities and older two-generation family day care spots have been formed in the whole Taichung city with the highest density nationally. 4 older two-generation family service centers are established in East District, Fengyuan District, Qingshui District and Beitun District with the social workers to provide the long term follow-up and concerning. In 2017, 524 cases of older two-generation family, 2,634 people counts of home visits, 5,968 people counts of phone calls and 10,532 participants in the spot activities were accumulated.

The officer of Social Affairs Bureau said, the City Government has proposed to the central government specifically for the people with mental retardation (i.e. intellectual disability, autism and chronic psychiatric diseases) and older two-generation families and asked for financial subsidies to commission the organizations, including Taichung City Association of Mentally Retarded, Taichung Association of Fortune Community Care, Parent Association of intellectual disability and Concentric circles community rehabilitation center located in Nantun District, Xitun District, Qingshui District and Dongshi District, respectively, to provide case management services for 240 families.