11th and 12th houses : CREB Woluwe

Constellations in collaboration with CREB association / Fundraising 2019-2020 and 2020-2021

Project to extend and completely renovate the day and accommodation centres of CREB Woluwe (Children's Rehabilitation Centre in Brussels)

After the opening of the CREB Anderlecht, there will be 45 children in Woluwe in the day centre (we will gradually increase to 55 children) and 27 in the residential centre at the opening. This is the second CREB project.

The CREB Woluwe welcomes children and young teenagers with severe mental and associated disabilities.

To-day's buildings have become unfit(asbestos) and too small to meet updated norms.We need to rebuild completely or have to close. Specifically ,the ground floor needs rebuilding. A first-floor needs be added. The living surfaces will need to be increased by +/- 1 000 m² and will allow the upgrading of the rooms, the sanitary equipment … The works will be phased in time since it is impossible to close.

This will be the most ambitious project Constellations has ever managed. The cost is indeed estimated at 5.000.000 €. 55 children are concerned after the opening and 82 places at stake. More than 120 people work in this center. It is also their jobs that are at stake.

The dossier has been approved in principle by the College of Ministers of the Brussels Capital Region in 2021. This first step was absolutely essential. It means that we will go ahead with the project if we can find all the money needed. It is a long administrative process, but experience shows that once the agreement in principle has been reached, nothing can stop us, if we find the money.

This will be the most ambitious project Constellations has ever managed. More than 120 people work in this centre. It is also their jobs that are at stake.

In fact, we had already found the €5,000,000 estimated cost before inflation of the project including the equipment end 2021. Our own contribution is € 650,000 and we have found an additional € 1,450,000 from several foundations. Constellations' contribution of € 650,000 played a major role in obtaining the agreement of these foundations. These foundations are the Lokumo Foundation, the Rotary Clubs of Brussels, the M.M Delacroix Foundation, Cap48, the ROGER DE SPOELBERCH Foundation, the NIF Foundation, the Michelham Foundation and the 6088 Fund.

Since last year when we handed over a cheque for €650,000 to CREB, we have had a lot of good news. After the agreement in principle, we have received the agreement on the preliminary project from the College of Ministers and have established positive relations with the Urban Planning Department. We finalised our agreements with UCL,our empheotic landlord on 15 February and we were able to file the application for planning permission immediately . We're making good progress with this project, as the consultation committee held a meeting at the commune, which went very well, and we're expecting planning permission within 4 to 6 weeks.

Not everything is rosy, however, and the increase in construction and equipment costs is also affecting the CREB, as we will have to find about €1,500,000 more than the initial cost of €5,000,000.

The Cocof will cover a large part of the cost of inflation but we will have to take other measures to be able to complete the reconstruction. We always go to the end of our projects and this will be the case again for the CREB. This will probably take the form of renewed support during the year 2023 /2024.

Constellations has a major role to play in supporting all the areas of intervention concerned in order to bring the project to a successful conclusion as soon as possible.