ANTONIANO - COVID EMERGENCY FUND

We are facing an unprecedented emergency in which more vulnerable sections of society are finding it ever harder to satisfy their basic needs of food, shelter, and medical assistance.
Hundreds of people have seen a significant worsening of their conditions over the pandemic period. The homeless have been left without options for safe shelter, without the familiar soup kitchens and night
canteens where they could eat, without anywhere to shower and attend to their personal needs. Families with insecure jobs or working on the unregulated market have seen their income reduced
to zero so they have been unable to provide for themselves or their children. In this dramatic situation, the Antoniano association has attempted to guarantee continuity of all assistance
services, adapting in line with the provisions designed to limit the health emergency. Hygiene kits and food were given out to anyone making a request (and not only existing service users).
The number of meals distributed daily increased from 130 to 180. The food is dispensed in the monastery cloisters from Monday to Sunday, while the families who used to attend the evening canteen received food
parcels at their homes. The social workers maintain the closest possible contact with the people they had been following, and offer telephone assistance, shopping vouchers, and psychological support.
In response to a rise in the demand for assistance, all the production activities that were covering part of the expense before the pandemic (cinema, theatre, courses for children, music productions and television
shows) were forced to close.