Vibe by Strázsa multisensory community experience space
Strázsa Farm is located 70 km south of Budapest, it is a 6-hectare area surrounded by forest, with a playground for people with disabilities, an animal petting zoo, a riding arena and a swimming pool. Its history began as a village accomodation, established as a family business, which over the years has grown into a social enterprise, employing 75 people. Previously, during our main activity, we welcomed school groups, organizations supporting people with disabilities, groups of friends, and we introduced the special natural values of the Kiskunság region and the atmosphere of rural life during guided programs.
We have also trained people with disabilities in the recent years, of which our program to help young adults with intellectual disabilities become more independent is a defining one. As a result, the demand for community housing and special employment increased, so in 2019 we established our own Supported Housing, which is home to 10 young adults with intellectual disabilities, and today we also provide employment for more than 40 people with disabilities.
When the Russian-Ukrainian war broke out, as a country neighboring the war, we immediately responded to help people with disabilities fleeing Ukraine. We did not yet know how long the war would last, funding was not yet secured, but 40 people already lived on our farm. We have continuously performed this task over the past years, and today we mentor people with disabilities and families affected by relatives in the countryside and in Budapest. We continued to help those from Strázsa Farm who were able to stand on their own feet, but more and more people arrived who were unable to support themselves. Therefore, we have created a care facility similar to an institution, with 24-hour nursing care for the 30 people who already live on the farm permanently. We provide care for the deaf, visually impaired, wheelchair users, amputee patients, people with mental difficulties, paranoid schizophrenics, intellectually disabled and psychiatric patients, elderly people suffering from dementia, teenage athletes who arrived without parents, mothers fleeing alone with their children and grandparents who rescue their disabled grandchildren. Our activities are very diverse, ranging from movement development to psychiatric care and daily care tasks to full support for people in need. Our mentors help them with everyday matters and access to the social and health care system.
In recent years, it has become clear to us that there is an urgent need for mental health support among refugees: for the treatment of anxiety, depression and PTSD. In addition to and in support of the social background we provide, we wanted to create a community space that is easily accessible to the large refugee group in the capital. We dreamed of a place that offers
mental health programs for children and their parents, thus supporting the development of mental well-being.
As a result, Budapest’s first public snoezelen room was born in July 2025: the Vibe by Strázsa multisensory community experience space. This special place is open not only to refugees but also to families affected by disabilities who want to feel included, recharged, relaxed and would find harmony in their everyday lives.
We provide space and professionals for self-help, grief and loss processing groups, we help people experience the little beauties of everyday life with art and music therapy, and we support stress relief with sound bowl sessions.
The snozelen room has already proven itself during our first sessions. Children with behavioral disorders were enchanted and calmed by the multi-sensory environment, while thanks to the intimate, cozy space, the barriers in the parents were opened as a result of the supportive conversation and relaxation taking place in snoezelen.
Building on the emerging needs, positive feedback and existing results, our goal is to reach as many affected families as possible and to spread this method, which is still new and a gap filler in Hungary.
