MIP Sheltered Workshop for the Mentally Disabled Life Center, which is a first in its field in Turkey, was established to develop basic life skills of individuals in need of special education, to ensure their adaptation to society, and to provide them with knowledge and skills for work and profession.

Under the roof management of Manisa IP, ZEKİ Life Center, which started its activities in May 2015 and has been operating since 2017, mentally disabled people, who have graduated from the Ministry of National Education’s special education 3rd level schools or have been 27 years old and have completed 1-year courses in public education centers, are employed in protected workplaces belonging to companies located in Manisa Industrial Park and where special working conditions are created.

Located in the administrative and social parcel of 5,811.26 m² in the 2nd part of the Manisa Industrial Park within the building of approximately 1,500 m²,  ZEKİ Life Center is currently operating with 7 companies and 62 employees with a 166 m² cafeteria/dining hall, a 90 m² multi-purpose hall and 12 protected businesses which each of them is 35 m². On the other hand, with the participation of a company that will start operating in the coming days, the number of mentally handicapped employees will increase to 70, and thus the occupancy rate of the center, which has a capacity of 96 employees, will reach 72%.

PHASE TWO: ZEKİ+

With ZEKİ+, the second phase of the Manisa IP ZEKİ Life Center, the mentally handicapped youth of Manisa, who started their business life in protected workplaces, were provided with a transition to the factory environment. Disabled individuals who work in protected workplaces and whose necessary training has been started will work in the factory environment after their training.

ZEKİ+, which will create a sustainable employment ecosystem for mentally handicapped individuals, is carried out by the Ministry of Industry and Technology with the Social Development Support Program (SOGEP) project for 2020.

ACCESSIBILITY CERTIFICATE

Necessary studies have been initiated within the framework of the “Accessibility Monitoring and Supervision Regulation” in order to enable disabled people to live independently and to participate effectively in all areas of their lives and to enable them to access services on an equal basis with other individuals, including physical environment, transportation, information and technological innovations.

After the improvement and sustainability works at the ZEKİ Life Center were completed under the guidance of the Accessibility Monitoring and Inspection Commission of the Provincial Directorate of Family, Labor and Social Services, our center was made ready for accessibility and was given an “Accessibility Certificate” by the Manisa Governor’s Office on 08 January 2021.

ZEKİ LIFE CENTER AWARDS

ZEKİ Life Center was awarded the silver award in the Corporate Social Responsibility Program of the Year at the 14th Stevie International Business Awards held in Barcelona, Spain on October 21, 2017.

On May 16, 2017, it was deemed worthy of the “Acknowledgement Award” by the Turkish Republic Social Security Institution Manisa Provincial Directorate for its contributions to the employment of mentally handicapped youth.

Accessibility Flag Hanged at ZEKİ Life Center

MIP Sheltered Workshop for the Mentally Disabled Life Center, which is a first in its field in Turkey, was granted the Accessibility Certificate on January 8, 2021, after passing the inspections of the Provincial Directorate of Family and Social Services Accessibility Monitoring and Supervision Commission. The “Accessibility Flag” was hung at the ceremony.

Nutrition Friendly Certificate

An application was made to the Provincial Health Directorate on 13.09.2022 within the scope of the Workplace Program that Supports Nutrition Friendly and Physical Activity in order to support and improve health by changing the behavior of ZEKİ Life Center employees and to create a healthy and safe workplace environment. As a result of the evaluation made by the Provincial Health Directorate Audit Commission on 14.09.2022, ZEKİ has been awarded the Ministry of Health’s Nutrition Friendly and Physical Activity Support Workplace Certificate.

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