Will volunteers save our welfare system?

According to Statistics Estonia, in the beginning of this year there lived ca 146 343 disabled persons in Estonia, for example 39 020 of them live in Harju County, 8 633 in Pärnu County and 22 088 in Tartu County. According to the social research about the managing of disabled people of Tallinn (Saar Poll OÜ, 2016), people need additional help due to their disability for example in activities such as shopping -  63% of the cases, and navigating outdoors - 46% of the cases.

On April 16th Helpific founders Keiu Roosimägi and Annika Amenberg met the president of the Lions Clubs International (LCI), Dr. Jitsuhiro Yamadaga from Japan. Helpific was acknowledged by a plate of thanks which is awarded at big international level meetings. The plate of thanks depicts the work of the winner of an every-year Peace Poster contest. Helpific was given the work of the winner of 2013-2014, a repro of a 13-year old Chinese girl on the theme of "Peace, Love and Understanding”.

The finale of the Ajujaht (Brainhunt) is over. In the finale of the business idea contest, SprayPrinter was announced as the winner. Helpific did not come home empty-handed either - Startup Incubator Tehnopol gave Helpific a special award – a gift card with the value of 5 000 euros that entails expert consulting on working out a business model, preparations to investments and taking in funds. The Leader of the Tehnopol Startup Incubator, Martin Goroško is convinced that Helpific services address a very solid and loyal target group to whom the market is not offering a lot of alternative solutions. Read the analysis (in Estonian)

Earning extra money has never been easier than now

Together with Autolevi, Bondora, Fundwise, Goworkabit Estonia, Postpal, Shipitwise, Taxify, Toitla, Wisemile and Uber, Helpific has established the Estonian Association of Sharing Economy. By common consent, Keiu Roosimägi (Helpific), Enn Metsar (Uber) and Hannes Lents (Toitla) were elected to the board. The aim of the Association is to promote and introduce the sharing economy. The Association makes sure that taking part in the sharing economy and contributing to the society through this would be available, acknow-ledged and reasonably regulated by law.  

• Sharing economy is stepping on the toes of capitalism? (in Estonian)
• The Minister of Economy and the entrepreneurs of sharingeconomy were discussing the cooperation, the Ministry will activate a morethorough survey
• Sharing economy as a test to the e-government (in Estonian)

Diversity Day in Helpific

The development of information technology changes the society in many aspects – the minority groups that so far have been hidden, will now come up better than ever before and will remind us that the diversity of the society is an every-day reality and we need to learn how to cope with it. Within the Diversity Day, it was discussed in Helpific how to improve the involvement of disabled people in the society through virtual as well as tangible environment. Read more

On June 11th on Stroomi Beach in Tallinn, a family festival “There is a Person behind the Disability” was held, where Helpific raised the discussion “People with Mental Health Disorders on the Labor Market – Danger or Opportunity?”. Together answers were searched to questions that people with mental health disorders need to enter the labor market and the companies need to hire people with mental health disorders. Also it was inquired what can be done by the professional service providers. The discussion was held in cooperation with Tallinn Mental Health Center, Tallinn University and Arcada University of Finland. Read more

Helpific co-founder and Head of Client Support, Triin Üksvärav gave an interview to the Hea Kodanik (Good Citizen) portal, where she talked about what the job of a diversity adviser is about and how involving different social groups is useful and necessary to organizations; how to present an environment that attracts different people and keeps them at work; and what are the problems and positive developments in the field of diversity in the Estonian labor market. Read more (in Estonian)

ISS Estonia is a pioneer in promoting the employment of people with special needs – they have about 250 people with special needs on their payroll and today they are already sharing their experience in cooperation with the Unemployment Office to other companies. The Head of Human Resources, Helo Tamme told Helpific how they find suitable solutions to the prospective employees, taking into consideration everyone’s specialty. Although the cooperation between different organizations and private sector is continuously developing in a positive direction, there is still a lot of work to do. To continue this development, we need to demolish prejudices, broaden the awareness and talk more about positive success stories in hiring people with special needs. Read more

28-year old Madis has been through many hardships during the past 10 years of his life. At the age of 18, doctors diagnosed Madis with schizophrenia, later also bipolar personality disorder, but it all started with deep depression in adolescence, which was so severe that was trying to take away the will to live. When life rolls tough ordeals in front of us, it is important how we are able to deal with them. Madis is sharing his experience in dealing with the illness and what it has taught him about life. Read more

Appeal of the volunteers: how much can a volunteer do?

Without volunteers who are contributing out of the sense of mission and without payment, our society would be poorer, more miserable and a lot of important things would be left undone. Today a number of social initiatives are struggling alone with their budget concerns. Representatives of a number of associations consisting of Estonian volunteers ask, how long are the volunteers able to work if the State does not support their activities? Read more (in Estonian)

Helpific as a big global community

Helpific co-founder and CEO, Keiu Roosimägi introduced Helpific in the magazine “Vaimupuu”. In addition to introducing Helpific’s ideas and team, Keiu also wrote about their challenges and future plans. Read more (in Estonian)

Fabulous stories, fabulous people

Helpific brings you the stories based on the experience of people who have posted an offer or a request to help through Helpific support environment. Read inspiring stories and join the community here