From the second I got to Lunds Fontänhus I felt warmly welcomed. The first thing I met was an open door with the word “welcome” over it and when getting into the house it was full of people and activity. I was greeted by Jamie Woodworth, communicator for Fontänhusets new project, Projekt Exa(k)t, which I was there to talk about this day. Jamie and the project’s research and development trainee, Danna Villada, showed me around the house before we met up with Matilda Espmarker, director and IPS-coach, to have some coffee and talk about their project.
Lunds Fontänhus is a community centre for mental health and well-being where they have different units for their members to get engaged within, such as gardening, cooking, etc. They also have a study program for students including for example individual coaching. Apart from that Lunds Fontänhus offer social activities and a place where you can get a sense of coherence and meaningfulness. When working with these projects they’ve realised that there’s a gap in support for students struggling with mental health issues who have graduated but not yet gotten into the working life.
The project is a collaboration between Lunds Fontänhus, Lund’s municipality, Finsam (financial coordination) and Arbetsförmedlingen (Sweden’s public employment agency). The focus is to support alumni from some kind of higher education who are ready to enter the working life and have experienced or are experiencing some kind of mental health issue. The purpose is to help people find, get and keep a job. In their work Exa(k)t uses two models; (1) a study rehabilitation model which works with giving people a sense of coherence, individual mentorship, a possibility for physical exercise, networking and learning together and social activities and (2) IPS (individual placement support) which is about giving support when preparing for a job and when starting a new job.
I was really curious about the name of the project, EXA(K)T, and Matilda told me that the idea actually came from one of Fontänhuset’s members. She thought that it would both symbolize that the project is addressed to people who have graduated (“EXAT” in swedish is a short way of saying that you have graduated) and also what will hopefully be a lot of EXAKT (exact) matches between employers and employees.
What can this project offer you?
If you are a job seeker with some kind of academic background who struggles with mental health issues Exa(k)t arrange different workshops and discussions on how to do a good job interview, how to talk to your boss about your mental health, how to prepare yourself for your first week on your new job, how to make an academic career, and much more. They can also give you mentoring, help with finding interesting job opportunities and support you during your first time at a new job. The project is very flexible and you can customize it according to your needs.
If you are an employer who wants to work more active these questions to get a more diverse work place and thereby broaden it’s competence Exa(k)t offers education on how to work with these questions at your work place.
Throughout our conversation I could really tell how passionate all three were about Projekt Exa(k)t and I understood that a lot of time, work and ambition lies behind it. They told me that the dream with the project, except from inspire individuals and help them get employments, is that Fontänhuset as well as Lunds municipality and Arbetsförmedlingen in the long term will have an established and set project with people who works only with these questions. With the ambition and good spirit I saw and heard during our meeting I really think that their dream will come true.
Are you interested in joining this project? Exa(k)t work with both Swedish and international alumni in all ages who are work-ready and who have experienced or are experiencing some kind of mental health issue. To sign up or get more information send an email to Matilda (director): matilda.espmarker@lundsfontanhus.se, or to: exakt@lundsfontanhus.se. You can also read more here:http://lundsfontanhus.se/enheter/projekt-exakt-2/ and visit Exa(k)t’s Facebook page here: https://www.facebook.com/ProjektExakt/.