De Brug is an association committed to caring for mentally disabled people, rehabilitating psychiatric patients and epileptic people who have difficulty in adapting to society.

Inspired by Dr. Raoul De Smedt, the organization was founded on 8 June 1971 in a common effort by staff of the psychiatric hospital of the Brothers of Charity, at Mortsel (St.-Amedeus), and of the psychiatric hospital of the Alexians, at Boechout, and the Antwerp branch of the National Association for the Prevention of Epilepsy. De Brug is caring, in the first place, for psychiatric patients released from hospital or from similar institutes, mainly for social reasons. We try by all means to avoid re-admittance of these people to a psychiatric establishment by means of:

• 1. Creating employment for those who cannot enter the common labour market ;
• 2. Finding proper housing and offering psychosocial advice to single people ;
• 3. Fostering recreational and leisure activities.

The Sheltered Workshop started on 20 August 1973. At present there are 270 workers and 45 monitors working. The work has acquired an industrial character and, therefore, is mainly aimed at firms that give us assignments.

Housing for single people started in 1974 and developed into five housing units. This sheltered living functioned without subsidies till 1991 when a new law provided staff subsidies. De Brug had to join another association, De Link n.-p.A., with which it has co-operated since the beginning of 1993.