Madrid | November 30, 2015
The President of the Community of Madrid, Cristina Cifuentes, today visited the facilities of Grupo Envera - APMIB located in the Madrid town of Colmenar Viejo to give her support to people with disabilities and reiterate her commitment to the development of a strategy to provide comprehensive care to people with "different abilities".
The president of Grupo Envera, José Antonio Quintero, and the general manager, Pedro Sobrino, received the president, who was accompanied by Carlos Izquierdo, Minister of Social Policies and Family, Jorge Jiménez, general manager of Attention to People with Disabilities, and Miguel Ángel Santamaría, mayor of the Madrid town.
The visit began at the residence for people over 45 years of age with disabilities, where they witnessed some of the various activities carried out by the residents, such as dog-assisted therapy and other workshops.
After talking with the users and receiving some gifts made by them, Cristina Cifuentes learned first-hand about the therapeutic activities also carried out at the occupational center and did not hesitate to join them.
The regional president participated in the current affairs program of the digital radio station Radio Terrícola, directed and presented by the center's people with disabilities. During the interviewCifuentes has declared herself a film buff and music lover. In addition, she has committed to the requests of the interviewers and has "wet" to ensure that his favorite team is Real Madrid, although his second team is Atletico. Cifuentes has talked about music, cinema and humor during the program and also about policies aimed at people with disabilities: "It is one of the priority objectives of the Community. We are developing a strategy for people with disabilities or, as we say, with different abilities and we want to invest in means, resources... Right now in Madrid there are 22,000 places but we want to have more day care centers, more occupational workshops. In general more resources and more attention because people with disabilities contribute a lot to any society and we have, not only the obligation to take care of them, but also the luck to be able to count on them and have them contribute to everyone's work."
Cifuentes closed the interview with a dance to the rhythm of Raffaella Carrà along with the rest of the attendees and attended the media after the visit.
In this complex, Envera also manages a residence for severely affected people, a sports pavilion and a special employment center. The comprehensive care facilities in Colmenar Viejo are a benchmark in the Community of Madrid and reflect the work that Grupo Envera has been doing for almost four decades with people with intellectual disabilities, accompanying them throughout their life cycle and offering them comprehensive care. Each year, Envera cares for 2,000 people in its assistance centers.
The visit was also attended by Graciela Ramallo on behalf of Iberia, Envera's patron, councilors from the Colmenar Viejo City Council and Javier Luengo, director of Plena Inclusión Madrid.
