The Cáritas network, made up of parish shelters and diocesan social action programs, accompanied 51,706 people in Valencia in 2022, 6.8% more than the previous year, which means a return to the numbers of beneficiaries of their actions prior to the covid-19 pandemic.
According to the NGO, the effects of the pandemic, together with the rise in prices and inflation and the consequences of the war in Ukraine, “are manifesting themselves harshly among the most vulnerable people” in the territory of the diocese. From Valencia.
Those responsible for Cáritas Valencia have considered that, “despite the fact that the situation of many people has improved with the labor reform, the rise in the SMI or the Valencian Inclusion Income, many still face precarious living conditions due to partial contracts , not receiving any type of income or not being able to access decent housing”.
Specifically, the profiles of the people served by the institution in one of the 426 parish Caritas and 197 projects have not changed, according to the NGO, which explained that they are still mostly single women with dependent minors, young couples with children , migrants, especially in an irregular administrative situation, people over 65 years of age alone and people with precarious housing.
The report points out the fact of having children as one of the risk factors for exclusion and the intergenerational transmission of poverty, and for this reason Cáritas has highlighted that they have 14,822 minor beneficiaries.
On the other hand, 19% of the people cared for have been for more than 10 years and, among the people accompanied by Cáritas Valencia, the 928 minors who participated in the Childhood and adolescence projects in 2022 or resided in the Home stand out. Mare de Déu dels Desemparats i dels Innocents.
Likewise, a total of 57 families are accompanied in the homes ceded by Cáritas to vulnerable families, while 283 migrants and homeless people resided in the institution’s homes and in the San Esteban Center.
In addition, 86 women were accompanied by the Jere-Jere project and 1,465 found a job with the support of Cáritas in the diocese.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Cáritas welcomed 1,118 people in the diocese of Valencia, and they collected funds to send them for 1.6 million euros.
Throughout 2022, Cáritas had the collaboration of 4,702 volunteers, the majority (72%) women, and received donations from 3,061 people and 272 collaborating entities and companies.
Regarding the resources invested, in 2022 they have also increased compared to previous years: In 2022 Cáritas invested more than twelve million euros in social care in Valencia, 52% in care and support programs and 24% to cover basic needs such as food, supplies, rent aid, evictions or payment of bills.
The director of Cáritas Valencia, Ignacio Grande, has highlighted that “the ups and downs and crises of the model affect all social classes, but especially the most vulnerable”
