By Andreas Jagersberger | Communications
We all feel the Corona crisis first hand. In total, more than 460,000 people throughout Austria are unemployed, additional 750,000 people are still put on short-time work as at the end of June 2020. Most of us can still help ourselves in these difficult times by our own efforts. But there are also many people in Austria - such as single parents, minimum pensioners, families with many children and unemployed people - who are urgently seeking help from Caritas because they are afraid that they will no longer be able to pay food or rent.
In Vienna alone, twice as many people in need have recently turned to Caritas, in Salzburg the number of people seeking help has almost tripled. Thanks to the support of our donors, Caritas can help quickly and unbureaucratically in the 36 social counselling centers throughout Austria.
In the period from March to the beginning of June, Caritas supported more than 11,500 people and their families to overcome the Corona crisis. Almost 33,000 meals were provided in addition to the existing Caritas offers. In total, more than 100 tons of foods were distributed in the form of food packages to people in need all over Austria.
Our solidarity needs a long breath
"Today's health crisis must not become more and more the social crisis of tomorrow," Caritas Austria and Caritas Europe president Michael Landau appeals. While food and hygiene products are currently the most in demand, heating and rental costs are likely to be the next items on the agenda.
The past few weeks have made it clear that our help will need a lot of patience. Because the virus and its consequences will keep us busy for even longer. We are not talking about days or weeks, but months and years. We are not only talking about people who were already in crisis before the pandemic, but also about those who are now facing new hardship.
Thank you for your support for people in need during these difficult times.
Links:
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
