The COVID-19 health crisis is a challenge for society, but the most affected are those with less resources. Because of this, Fondo Esperanza, together with Hogar de Cristo and Techo, have created the “Chile Comparte” (Chile Shares) campaign, to provide relief baskets to socially and economically vulnerable families.
These families already suffered the consequences from the social upheaval in 2019, and this new crisis has exacerbated their precarious conditions. Based on the standards used by the National Emergency Office, under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the initiative’s participating institutions have compiled the necessary data to define a fair process to ensure that this assistance will reach the most deprived households and that the aid delivery is well organized. The distribution logistics follow the appropriate health measures required by the Government.
Aside from welcoming more partners, the campaign has also received donations which have enabled the organizers to speed up its implementation.
More than 1,500 packages containing food and hygienic products have been delivered to families who cannot easily access these basic goods, households most likely headed by entrepreneurs served by Fondo Esperanza, whose living standards have plummeted.
Juan Arenas is one of these entrepreneurs. He makes products out of plastic and sells them, together with his wife, at a local fair. His income pre-pandemic was enough to get supplies, pay his bills and maintain his family afloat, but with the social outburst which started October last year, his situation started to worsen. “For us, it has been difficult to resolve many things. Between rallies and disturbances, we are now facing the worst, this coronavirus crisis, it doesn’t let you work or even move, you can’t do anything.”, he shares. Receiving the “Chile Comparte” relief box has been “amazing”, according to Juan, because it came at the right moment.