One special area is the creative workshop, where employees can use papier-mâché, for example, to develop their creativity and manual skills.
For a long time,
the goal of the Mosaik workshop in Berlin has been to create jobs for people
with disabilities and make it easier for them to transition to the general
labour market. Today, Mosaik makes it possible for approximately 1,150 people
with disabilities to participate in working life at over 30 locations. Read on
to learn some exciting things about Mosaik in our blog post.
Mosaik was
founded in 1965 as an initiative of the German-American Women’s Club, as there
was no work for people with disabilities in Germany at the time. In addition to
crocheting, knitting, gluing and the like, other areas of activity gradually
emerged. Today, Mosaik is mainly known for shipping and digital workplaces. So there
is a lot of packing and computer work. Mosaik helps other retailers to store
and ship their goods, for example.
“I consider
Mosaik a very varied workplace and extremely diverse,” reveals Katja Stein. She
is currently a PR and Print employee and has worked at Mosaik for over twelve
years now. The name Mosaik originated from the concept of very patiently using
small colourful stones to create a vibrant picture. This is also a true
representation of what happens in the company. There are so many areas at
Mosaik in which employees can work. From carpentry, laundry, arts and crafts,
through to gardening, landscaping and industrial assembly – everything is on
offer. “We have a very broad range of work of varying difficulties, from
support groups to workshops and inclusion workplaces,” summarised Katja Stein.
Made at Mosaik: the key chains with #Berlin2023 and the World Games logo are available in many different colours in the Special Olympics shop
The sewing
workshop is also part of the work setup. This is where we sourced the Special Olympics World Games key chains
in lots of vibrant colours available to buy in our shop. For these, the
employees cut felt strips to precise dimensions and then carefully added the
Special Olympics imprint with an ironing press. The ends of the felt strips
were sewn together and our colourful key fobs were good to go!
Silvia is one of
the employees who imprinted the Special Olympics design and seamed the felt
strips. While working away, she reveals that purple and magenta are her
favourite colours. That’s also why she especially likes these key fobs. Silvia
has been with Mosaik for almost 30 years and is now practically a fixture at
her sewing station. “It’s like a family to me here,” she says.
The Special Olympics key chains: each one made with love and care.
She is also
sports-mad and loves to meet new people while doing sports. Sports are popular
at Mosaik, and employees are offered a wide range of these once a week.
Football, swimming and table tennis are just some of the activities available
alongside work and bring a great deal of variety to the workshop. And the
Mosaik employees are also aware of Special Olympics. Some are already eagerly
anticipating the Games and hope to be among the spectators. We look forward to
seeing you there!
Creative and sports-mad: Mosaik employee Silvia (right) speaks with Special Olympics trainee Julian Stegemann about the workshop and her passion for sports
