Covid 19: the first  funds from the Methodist and Waldensian churches  have been assigned

The first part of the  Euro 8 million earmarked for health care support from the Eight per thousand funds of the Methodist and Waldensian Churches  has already been assigned by the Waldensian Board to specific projects, from North to South of Italy

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Rome (NEV), April 26, 2020 – The Waldensian Board has completed the plan for the allocation of the first part of the Euro 8 million from the Eight per thousand funds allocated for the corona virus emergency.  It is, as stated in the note published on the site chiesavaldese.org, the earmarked part for health care support, while the second part of the allocation will contribute to the economic and social reconstruction after the emergency phase is over.

The complete list and the projects details, already financed and implemented, which therefore includes for now only the interventions already defined, is available on www.ottopermillevaldese.org.

The interventions financed so far are primarily aimed at the purchase of important equipment and / or at the strengthening of medical and nursing staff in the Giovanni XXIII Hospital and in the Ospedale degli Alpini in Bergamo, in the Civil Hospitals of Brescia, in the ‘Pesaro and Jesi Hospital’, in the International Evangelical Hospital of Genoa and in the Betania Evangelical Hospital of Naples, Ponticelli.
Aid will also go to support, in various parts of Italy, local medicine services, which appear to be strategic not only in a preventive way (compared to the risk of contagion explosion  linked to situations of marginality and degradation in which some segments of the population live) but also, in the short and medium term, as a guarantee of continuity and adequacy of care in non-hospital settings.
The financing of this second type of intervention has already been directed towards numerous structures for the elderly in the area between Fabriano, Jesi, Senigallia and Ancona; towards informal settlements in the countryside of the Foggia province; towards homeless people and other vulnerable subjects in various districts of the city of Rome.
This action should shortly be completed with a contribution on two other fronts. The first is an important initiative carried out by the Mediterranean Hope program  of the Federation of Protestant Churches in Italy (FCEI), in the informal settlements of the Piana di Gioia Tauro, real bombs that risk exploding at any moment with devastating effects for a region with a fragile health system like Calabria.

“The second open front is in the province of Turin, in the territory of Pinerolo and of the Germanasca, Chisone and Pellice Valleys, where the significant presence and roots of our local churches and the operations we are able to realize through our diaconal organization – commented Alessandra Trotta, moderator of the Waldensian Board – make us feel particularly responsible for offering an important investment in territorial emergency support services”.
The picture of the interventions put in place is completed with the doubling of the funds made available to the local churches for community social projects aimed at providing food aid and in satisfying other primary needs of the most disadvantaged sections of the population. In addition, apartments or accommodations will be made available in various parts of Italy to accommodate people who, for various reasons, cannot spend periods of isolation, quarantine or convalescence in their homes after being discharged from hospitals.