With the help of many kind-hearted people and corporations, the Taiwan Foundation for Rare Disorders enters its second decade in 2019. To provide more forward-looking service goals and visions, after 12 years of preparation, the Guanxi Welfare Service Center for the People with Disabilities, a disability welfare service center with a farm concept, officially opened on October 22nd in Guanxi, Hsinchu. In addition to continuing to deepen services for families with rare diseases, it will also integrate local resources, promote popular science education and life education advocacy, and provide a space for families with rare disease members to take a break and for the public to experience, making it as a highlight of rare disease services in Asia.

Unlike existing disability welfare service centers in various counties and cities, the Guanxi Welfare Service Center for the People with Disabilities combines functions such as production, leisure, healing, rehabilitation, artistic cultivation, psychological counseling, respite services, family activities, and social education. It is tailored to be the first healing space for families with rare disease members in the country, providing one-stop services suitable for rare disease patients and their families of different ages. Both indoor and outdoor spaces are designed with universal accessibility. By combining the foundation’s years of direct service experience with the cultural resources of Guanxi, the value, and energy of the foundation’s services are enhanced.

President Derek Chen and his wife, Paula Ma, have been continuing supporting the foundation since 2018 and have sponsored the service space and equipment of the park, making the overall utilization of the Guanxi Welfare Service Center for the People with Disabilities more diverse and abundant, together safeguarding Taiwan’s most vulnerable families.