ELO in English

Welcome to create better life for families with children with special needs. We operate in Lapland, Finland. Become a part of ELO.

ELO, Erityislasten Omaiset ELO ry, is a registered association founded in 2000.

ELO is a network that provides peer support and recreational activities for families with special needs children and adolescents. The network welcomes all families with children and adolescents needing any form of special support.

We operate independently of diagnoses and special needs may be physical, psychological, neurological, linguistic, or social (diagnosed or undiagnosed). The network welcomes parents with special needs children/adolescents, their relatives, those working with individuals of special needs – indeed everyone whose heart beats to special needs. We are easy to join, and we offer low threshold activities, in which you can participate depending on your resources.
Our annual membership fee is 20€ per family.

ELO operates in fifteen municipalities in Lapland (Enontekiö, Inari, Kemi, Kemijärvi, Keminmaa, Kittilä, Kolari, Muonio, Pello, Rovaniemi, Salla, Simo, Sodankylä, Tornio ja Ylitornio).

The core of ELO activities is to support and strengthen the daily life of families with special needs children and adolescents in Lapland by offering peer support. All our activities build on the principles of support and mutual respect. Our goal is that ELO families would have the means to go about their daily life, and we offer concrete support in the form of guidance and communication through our active peer support network. All the ELO events are open for residents in the fifteen municipalities.

Our ELO group activities create possibilities for peer support encounters for children and adolescents, their parents, and entire families. The ELO group activities comprise of discussions and exchanges of ideas and experiences, and our members can enjoy the activities, meet new people and be empowered through peer support. All the group activities are tailor-made to meet the needs of our members. They are also free of charge and open for everybody. In addition, ELO acts as a contact point for information regarding events relevant for our families and for all those who work with these families. We collaborate with schools, local associations and other operators, and we organize workshops, trainings, symposia, and theme days. These activities enable us to act as a liaison between families and local policymakers in Lapland.

Our goal is that all the ELO municipalities have local ELO godparents. They can be local civil servants, be employed by local associations, by the parish, or by local partners. These ELO godparents act as a point of contact between the municipality and the local service infrastructure on the one hand, and the ELO families and our employees on the other. All the ELO godparents are communicators, and they offer their professional competences for our peer support activities by helping us to reach families who need help. They also help families to find our peer support activities and provide information to local support channels. A few municipalities also have local ELO teams, which are formed of professionals and civil servants. These teams also support the ELO godparents..

Our ELO peer support network includes approximately 500 families and more than 1000 collaborators around Lapland. The ELO activities are funded by grants, donations, and membership fees. In addition, we are funded by the Funding Centre for Social Welfare and Health Organisations (STEA), which operates under the Finnish Ministry of Social Affairs and Health. STEA manages the funding granted from the gaming revenue of Veikkaus Oy, the state-owned gaming company that funds common good in Finland. STEA funds organizational operations within the social and health services and non-profit projects that promote health and wellbeing in Finland.

Contact us at elokolo@erityislastenomaiset.fi | 044 097 8080