The Lisbon City Council has 187 thousand euros to allocate to Casa do Alentejo, an almost century-old community that is in danger of closing in the next month due to the losses resulting from the covid-19 pandemic.
According to the online edition of the Journal News (JN), next Monday, day 21, a proposal from the councilor for Social Rights votes, Manuel Grilo, to guarantee support to this and other organizations with important work in the city. Lisbon House of Brazil, the Associação Lusofonia Cultura e Cidadania, the Parish Social Center of Nossa Senhora da Ajuda, a CulturFace- Cultural Association for Development and Positivo – Support and Self-Help Groups will also receive funding from 16,9 thousand euros, 3000 euros, 84 thousand euros, ten thousand seven hundred euros and almost 29 thousand euros, respectively.
Financial aid comes from the Social Emergency Fund, which aims to guarantee extraordinary support to non-profit organizations with significant revenue losses due to the pandemic situation. The Social and Parish Center S. Francisco de Paula also applied for support, but the application was rejected, why, according to the proposal, it has not been demonstrated “inability to meet the burdens underlying it”.
At the end of last month, the vice president of Casa do Alentejo, Manuel Verdugo, acknowledged to JN Urbano that “without help there are no miracles”. “We can't take it in January. We were an ex-libris of the city, but the pandemic paralyzed us. This is no longer just pain, we live in a state of agony”, he complained.
