Accessibility Plus is a government program implemented in the years 2018-2025. Its main goal is to enable people with special needs, such as the elderly or those with disabilities, to actively participate in social and public life. It also aims to ensure equal and unrestricted access to services and goods.
The program defines accessibility as a property of the environment (not only physical space, but also virtual reality, services, and information and communication systems) that enables equal use for all individuals - including those who face various functional difficulties on a daily basis.
The areas covered by support under the Accessibility Plus Program for People with Disabilities include architecture, transportation, education, healthcare, digitization, services, competitiveness, and coordination. According to its assumptions, ensuring accessibility should be possible by implementing universal design principles in new investments.
In the case of projects that comply with the program's assumptions, people with disabilities are not the only ones who can benefit from new solutions. A perfect example of this is technology, which, although originally created to facilitate the functioning of people with special needs, is now widely used by everyone. This includes features such as ramps, low-floor buses with ramps, threshold-free rooms, and anti-slip materials used for flooring.
Accessibility Plus Program was developed primarily for people with limited mobility or communication abilities. In practice, accessibility concerns - even sporadically - will affect almost every person functioning in society.
The government's Accessibility Plus Program includes, among other things, elimination of architectural barriers. This means that new construction projects must be designed in such a way as to provide access to them for people using wheelchairs or facing other mobility limitations. Existing facilities should also be modernized to meet the definition of barrier-free buildings. Accessibility Plus includes the possibility of obtaining funding from the Accessibility Fund.
The Accessibility Fund provides funds for preferential loans (with more favorable conditions than market loans), which aim to finance the creation of infrastructure for people with disabilities or various limitations and special needs.
Communities and cooperatives, as well as public institutions (schools, hospitals, clinics, cultural institutions) can apply for a loan from the Accessibility Fund. Private individuals who own multi-family residential buildings can also obtain funds.
The funds obtained can be used, among other things, for eliminating architectural barriers - for example, by adapting the bathroom. This means the possibility of purchasing building materials and equipment such as special bathroom fixtures, handrails and grips.
Before submitting an application to the Accessibility Fund, it is necessary to conduct an accessibility audit, which will determine what changes need to be made to make the building accessible for people with special needs.
To take advantage of funding under the Accessibility Plus program, it is necessary to fill out an application for a loan and submit it along with the required attachments during the open call.
Filling out the application is not difficult in this case; it has been designed to be as intuitive as possible. Importantly, all elements and work that the funding is intended to cover must be listed precisely. For example, it is necessary to specify that the modernized bathroom will include, for example, steel sanitary ware, foldable wall-mounted changing tables, or other equipment. The list of planned purchases and work must correspond to the results of the aforementioned audit.
The completed loan application under the Accessibility Plus program must be accompanied by specific documents. The exact list depends on the scope of planned work, the amount of the loan, and the type of entity applying for funding. Among them are, among others:
The full list of documents divided by entities and the amount of the loan can be found on the website of the Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego, in the "Accessibility Fund" tab.
Funds from the Accessibility Fund can include, among others, funding for adapting a bathroom for the disabled. This loan stands out mainly due to its low interest rate and the possibility of partial cancellation. Importantly, unlike funding for adapting a bathroom for the disabled from PFRON, there is no need to have any own contribution.
The current scale of the Accessibility Plus program and funds does not yet allow for a complete reconstruction of existing infrastructure and adaptation of every space to the needs of people with disabilities. However, gradual changes in the form of renovations and modernizations take place within its framework. As a result, the quality of spaces in cities and various public facilities is improving, making it more comfortable for everyone to use.
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