Kerstin Gaedicke, founder of a social enterprise from Germany

Kerstin reported that back when she was working in social service, the environment was not collegial. Often it lacked understanding for people with special needs, despite the fact that her colleagues worked with PwD all the time. Then she was unemployed for a while, applying unsuccessfully for funding. She managed to go through further training as a system and family coach. While trained, one of her colleagues invited her to speak at one of his seminars. She held a seminar about the ways that blind and visually impaired people can be treated professionally. Kerstin started reading brochures of the Blind Association and delivering the information from them. Ultimately, it resulted in her own concept for seminars.

Kerstin received consultations from “Enterability” (a former integration service for self-employment), as well as financial support from the Integration Office and a PC workstation suitable for blind people delivered by a social fund.

When she became self-employed, her family was no longer there, but her friends saw it very positively and supported her where they could.

Positive feedback from the participants of the seminars is the best proof that she moves in the right direction. The seminars also had a positive influence on Kerstin herself. She learned more about herself when people asked her why blind people behave in certain ways.