How do we work?

This program consists of three pillars, which are:

a) Family Coexistence Service
b) Eventual benefits
c) Access to the world of work

It aims to welcome, provide care and accompany families. These are families with a high risk of weakening and breaking of familial bonds due to the presence of one or more members with chronic / rare diseases. This brings socioeconomic difficulties due to the high cost of treatment, instability in family relationships and poor access to basic services, to housing and work.

In this Program, "Refazer" provides a space for reflection, listening, and comfort for the families of children and adolescents with chronic / rare diseases. Its aims are social protection, promotion and improvement of quality of life through psychological support, evaluating the families' emotional development and mental and social processes by their individual and group behavior. Families are met individually and in groups, as subjects of particular and unique needs / demands.

It aims to generate new understanding and reflection on topics considered relevant to the assisted families. Many of those topics are suggested by themselves, which lead to knowledge-rich conversation rounds. Citizenship, self-esteem and prejudice have been recurrent themes and our analysis of this work is that a space to listen and be heard is fundamental for strengthening ties and support networks to members of our children and adolescents families.

Conducted by the institution's Social Worker, it aims to accompany children and adolescents and their families, especially those at social and personal risk. Each family is observed through specific techniques and provides the direction of actions that seek to mitigate or minimize the social impacts that affect these families.

"'Refazer' was the family I never had. I don't even mean material help, but in relation to support. I didn't have support before coming to 'Refazer'. Here I had emotional support, I felt welcomed. Me and my family. I also took the sewing course and today I can have an extra income ".

Maria Lúcia, Luisa's mother, in 'Refazer' since 2017

"Refazer' was the solution that came at the hardest time. We were finding it very hard to feed Mylena because her milk formula was very expensive. The Institute is my second family. I thought it would only be a help with the benefits, but it is much more than that. I was welcomed and guided because I didn't know how to handle the difficulties." 

Márcio, father of Mylena, in 'Refazer' since 2017"

"Here I made dreams come true. Some people think it's just the benefits, but no: The first thing I got was a hug and real care for my family. With the courses, I found myself. I tried several until I found myself in the hairdressing class. I found a woman who had a gift. "

Wilmara, Richelle's mother, in 'Refazer' since 2014"

Rare syndromes and chronic diseases, as well as the high cost of treatments, directly affect the social reproduction of families and thus, the ability to guarantee daily food consumption. We seek to meet the immediate needs caused by pathologies.

Eventual benefits (medicines, supplements, medical equipment) are passed on to families, which minimizes the impact of the disease and the cost it entails. We also donate used clothing, diapers, blankets and non-perishable food when civil society mobilizes in campaigns.

The inadequacy of housing that prevents the improvement of health and family well-being is an indication for entry into the Brick Program. This program promotes improvements in their homes to provide a healthy and dignified life for the whole family.

In 2018, Repsol's donation, received at 'Refazer' in 2017, could finally be distributed among 4 families. As the residents themselves were in charge of the works, we had a hard time entering the communities to get photographic evidence. However, we emphasize that all materials' proofs of purchase were accounted for, audited and forwarded to Repsol.

1) Talita L. de Oliveira, 4 years old, lives with her father, Mr. Darci (handyman in a condominium), her mother Mrs. Catiana (housewife) and 4 younger siblings. The child receives a Monthly Continuous Benefit (BPC) from the State, to the amount of 1 minimum wage (R$ 954.00), due to her chronic pathology. She was sponsored by 'Refazer' until the end of 2018. Talita has delayed development and locomotion, which hinders her hygienic needs. The bathroom was suited to her everyday needs. The lack of proper floorings in the child's bedroom and broken floors in the other rooms of the house aggravated her breathing problems, this was also corrected, as well as the plastering of the internal walls .

2) Bruno Henrique da S. Matoso is 5 years old and lives with his mother, Mrs. Daiana (housewife) and father, Mr. Claudio, who is currently unemployed. The child receives a Monthly Continuous Benefit (BPC) from the State, to the amount of 1 minimum wage (R$ 954.00), due to his chronic pathology, and this is the only income of the family. With this amount, the family pays the installment of the house where they live (R$ 500.00) and the basic bills of electricity, water, gas and food. He was sponsored by 'Refazer' until the end of 2018. Bruno's house was unfinished, lacking plaster in the walls inside and outside the house. With the heavy summer rains, water poured through the walls. We also identified the problem caused by the lack of flooring, because the dust that came from the cemented floor caused breathing problems in the child, who already had allergic rhinitis. Given the health demands and social issues presented, we verified the importance of making improvements in the child's living conditions, such as plastering the walls inside and outside the house, laying floors in the rooms and painting inside the residence.

3) Marina dos Santos do Carmo Nascimento was 4 years old and lived with her father (unemployed), her mother (housewife) and her younger sister. The family received a Monthly Continuous Benefit (BPC) from the State, to the amount of 1 minimum wage (R$ 954.00) and this was their only income at the time. In June 2016, the attendant who cared for the child asked our Social Service section for the help of the Brick project because, according to him, the residence had a problem with its covering concrete slab and had a lot of mold and leaks.

Unfortunately, Marina died in August 2017, before the work began. Out of respect for the family, it was decided by the ouro Board to keep them in the program. The architect indicated the need to bring the houseup to street level and the creation of a 45m² house with 2 bedrooms, living room, kitchen and bathroom. We had access to the beginning of the works, but because the region is extremely violent, we could not get photos showing the final result.

4) Luiz Fernando dos Santos is a 15 years old teenager and lives with his adoptive mother, Mrs. Kátia and his aunt, Mrs. Denise. The adolescent receives a Monthly Continuous Benefit (BPC) from the State, to the amount 1 minimum wage (R$ 954.00), due to his chronic neurological pathology, and this is the only income of the family. The house was unfinished, leaky and had little space for Luiz Fernando's wheelchair. The bathroom was very small, which made it difficult to clean. Heavy summer rains caused problems in the residence and, among other events, part of the house fell. Being a wheelchair-bound adolescent in need of special care and in view of these health and social demands, it was necessary to carry out work to expand the bathroom to improve the wheelchair maneuvering, repositioning the rooms of the house for better air circulation, erect a wall dividing the teenager's house from the neighboring house and overall plastering and painting. This is the only house we have been able to visit and photograph to demonstrate the seriousness of our work in managing the Brick Program, as well as the judicious use of the funds donated by the Repsol oil company.

We seek to promote the access of our assisted families to the world of work. Families in social vulnerability need to be guaranteed citizenship rights and access to the world of work. 'Refazer' offers workshops of professional experience, such as: Basic Sewing, Advanced Sewing, Costume Jewelry Making, Embroidery, Crochet, Box Lining and Computer Skills. In partnership with the Child Health Association, 'Refazer' also offers courses in the areas of beauty care and cooking.
Launched in 2006 to be a training program for families assisted by the 'Refazer' Institute, the 'Grife Refazer' ('Refazer' Brand) has been investing for over a year in a business plan to expand and diversify its sales through partnerships with companies and stores.

''Grife Refazer' is a social business aimed at the sustainability of the 'Refazer' Institute. By shopping at 'Grife', you support the mission of this institution by benefiting children and adolescents with rare and chronic diseases, as well as their families in social vulnerability.

Volunteers design the products, which are manufactured by artisans at their homes, while caring for their family and helping to supplement the family's income. Some of these artisans were past beneficiaries of 'Refazer'.

The brand has three lines: Home, Woman and Child. There are more than 30 types of products, such as pillows, crochet dolls, necessaires, eye-glass cases, placemats, etc.

http://grife.refazer.org.br (in Portuguese only)
or at our headquarters, at Rua Hans Staden, 34 - Botafogo (Rio de Janeiro).
We accept orders by phone: (21) 2553-9888 or (21) 98026-7890.

REFAZER assistance programs have been very successful in improving the quality of life of our assisted children's families. Individual gains have been observed by family members and by our social workers' team.

'Whether while providing psychological and social assistance, while providing tools and training for the Career Program or even in conversation circles on topics that enrich the lives of these families, we observed that instruments available to people from higher social classes were lacking.

With the onset of the pandemic in 2020, this lack was even more evident. The desire to raise the subsistence level of these families, as well as the performance of our institution, brought to life a Program that could offer an opportunity for personal growth combined with the professional performance of family members, as identified from a preliminary survey.
The Reedesigning Lives Program has 2 areas of action, namely:

1) How is your business doing?
Develop the appropriate Communication and Marketing tools to encourage better management and success of the business of those enterprising family members we identified, improving the way they manage their business resources, enhancing growth and vision of the market in which they operate.

2) Self-development
Support for the self-knowledge and self-development process of adults and the application of coaching techniques – individually or in groups – in order to help them understand their current issues and make decisions about the changes needed to improve their future.