A.R.T. Menssana: A company whose doors are always open

A copy shop, printed T-shirts and mugs, and a team that knows a job means more than just work. The story of a Sarajevo company that began with one decision: anyone who wants to work can do so.

There is a place in Sarajevo whose doors are always open. For some people, finding work is harder than for others. Here, they have found the support they were looking for.

A.R.T. Menssana is a social enterprise in Sarajevo that employs people with mental health difficulties and disabilities. Their work is like any other business: printing, copying, binding and making personalised printed gifts for companies and individuals.

Merima Bradarić Srna, Director of Marketing and Sales at A.R.T. Menssana, tells the story of how it all began.

From simple tasks to the idea of a company

The Menssana Association was founded in 2012 by psychologists and psychiatrists who had noticed a missing link in the support system. Its day rehabilitation centre opened in 2019. Alongside outings, theatre visits and social activities, the people attending the centre took on simple work tasks. Two women, known as the hosts, would welcome others, make coffee and tidy up after everyone had left.

The association noticed that people felt better when they carried out these tasks. According to Bradarić Srna, they had long been told that they could not work, that they did not need a job because they received benefits, and were often reduced to being labelled “welfare cases”. At the centre, they showed that they could work.

Why start a company?

Some people attending the centre found jobs at other companies, but getting there was complicated. Bradarić Srna explains that although legislation on employing people with disabilities exists, prejudice remains a major barrier.

“We cannot employ everyone as a host at the centre. So why not try setting up a company? That is how the idea came about,” says Bradarić Srna.

It took about a year to go from the idea to registering the company. They started with a copy shop because they saw an opportunity to involve people from the centre and build a sustainable business. Alongside it, they opened a psychological counselling service for the general public. Bradarić Srna explains that the association's statutes did not allow it to charge for counselling. Additional support comes from the Menssana Information Centre, which guides people towards the next step in the system.

Expanding the range, step by step

Their starting capital was modest, as is common in the non-governmental sector, says Bradarić Srna. At first, they could therefore offer only printing, copying and binding. Through the “Step by Step” programme, jointly implemented by Mozaik Foundation and Sparkasse Bank, they expanded their range: today, they print on T-shirts, mugs, caps, umbrellas and mouse mats, in both small and large batches.

“It was through this programme that we were able to offer many more services and reach a different market from when we only had a copy shop,” says Bradarić Srna.

Work as a source of support

People come to the Menssana Association on the recommendation of professionals. The psychiatrists and psychologists supporting them in healthcare institutions assess whether a working environment could benefit them and recommend that they attend. Work at Menssana is not treatment: they continue to receive treatment through healthcare institutions. As Bradarić Srna puts it, Menssana is an “extension” of that support, helping people maintain the progress they have made while giving them a reason to get up in the morning and leave the house.

Bradarić Srna illustrates what this means in practice with two examples from the day centre. Thanks to activities at the centre, one woman was able to stop taking five types of medication under medical supervision. A man living alone with severe depression found a reason at the centre to get up, get dressed and leave the house.

The aim, Bradarić Srna explains, is to support people in continuing their treatment as recommended by professionals, alongside everyday activities and work that give them a sense of purpose. “If you simply say you cannot do something, that is a belief. It is not a fact. Beliefs can change,” she says.

Neither an exception nor a miracle

The people working here are people we pass on the street every day, without even knowing they have a diagnosis, says Bradarić Srna.

“We do not know what life has in store for us. But what we are trying to do here is something good for at least one group of people. Something that will matter to them,” she says.

A.R.T. Menssana aims to grow the business to a point where it can employ as many people as possible who want to work. As Bradarić Srna explains, this would make people less dependent on social support and free up resources in the system for other needs. When someone buys a mug, she says, that money can help pay someone's salary.

“Our aim is not to tell a sad story. We genuinely want to offer a quality service, and the fact that we are doing something good is simply an added value,” says Bradarić Srna.