Sunnemätteli Entlastungsheim für behinderte Kinder Heilsarmee

The Sunnemätteli respite home offers part-time, extracurricular respite for families with children who have special needs.

Sunnemätteli is part of the Salvation Army's social work and is a non-profit organization. Children and young people are accepted and cared for regardless of their origin, background, religion, or culture.

Professional care is provided on weekends, during holidays, and during school terms.

The Sunnemätteli respite home has 16 places and is open 360 days a year. Many parents use the respite service at weekends and during school holidays. If necessary, emergency and transitional placements as well as longer-term semi-internal placements during the week are possible. In order to continue attending the usual special education schools, a transport service must be organized.

Sunnemätteli is open all year round, except from December 24 to 26. The highest demand is for holiday and weekend places.

• We offer eight respite places and one emergency place in each of the two groups, Rubin and Saphir.
• Care is provided in a family setting by caregivers from the educational and nursing fields.
• We attach great importance to close cooperation with parents.
• If necessary, we work together with early intervention centers, special education schools, and other specialist agencies.

The structure of the respite stays depends on the constantly changing group composition. Currently, over 100 different children use our services every year. A stay is characterized by the different types of disabilities of the respective children as well as by the time (weekend, vacation, or school time) and duration. This means that there are significant differences in terms of possibilities and needs.
It is important to us to create an atmosphere of security and trust for the children. The children should have the freedom to develop independently without pressure to perform and to discover a new environment in a protected setting.

Information from parents is an important aid in our everyday work. Parents are always welcome to call and ask how their child is doing. If we have any important questions about care, we contact the parents directly.