NBA’s Vladimir Radmanovic To Support Serbians With Disabilities

June 4, 2010

(Baltimore, MD) - Golden State Warriors Forward Vladimir Radmanovic, a long time supporter of IOCC, will fund a new project to improve therapeutic and skills training for more than 1,600 disabled children and adults in Serbia. The aim of the project is to assist Serbian institutions to expand the occupational and physical therapy services available to people with disabilities.

Radmanovic, born in Trebinje, Yugoslavia (now Bosnia-Herzegovina), has supported other IOCC initiatives including a project that provided culinary and other job training for at-risk youth in Serbia. The new project, valued at over $220,000 and focused mainly on institutions in rural areas south of the capital Belgrade, is being funded with a $110,000 grant from the Vladimir Radmanovi? Children's Foundation.

The mission of the Vladimir Radmanovic Children's Foundation is to assist organizations that aid children who have been abandoned by their families or removed from their homes for their own protection.

The project includes the construction of a specially adapted "Children's World" recreational area at one facility that will enable over 430 disabled children develop motor skills and improve the quality of life. The project will also establish and equip "My First Working Place" to provide training and occupational therapy in tailoring, printing, carpentry and other trades in a facility that serves over 900 residents.

Many of the project activities will provide income that will allow the activities to be self-sustained. In addition, IOCC will also support the program by providing $100,000 in material assistance for the disabled and orphanages, including quilts, disposable diapers and linen sets.

Following decades of challenges caused by armed conflicts, economic isolation and transition, there remains a continued need to support youth and childcare systems in Serbia. Existing social welfare institutions are engaged in efforts to reform and update their systems, however, this remains a major challenge due to the lack of available resources.

IOCC is the official humanitarian aid agency of the Standing Conference of Canonical Orthodox Bishops in the Americas (SCOBA) and a member of the ACT Alliance, a global coalition of churches and agencies engaged in development, humanitarian assistance and advocacy.

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 Media: Contact Amal Morcos at 443-823-3489.

Photo caption please go to: www.iocc.org

NBA star and longtime IOCC supporter Vladimir Radmanovic tours a greenhouse that was used to provide occupational therapy and vocational training to disabled people in a project implemented with IOCC in 2008. In a new partnership with IOCC, the Vladimir Radmanovic Children's Foundation will expand the occupational and physical therapy services available for more than 1,600 people with disabilities in Serbia. (photo: IOCC Baltimore)