?Poverty means the lack of access to a world full of opportunities.?
(Vital Moreira, 2012)
The number of requests for help increases year after year, but social policies are not being effective? The poor are getting poorer and poorer , the ?new poor? emerge and the growing number of Portuguese people living on the edge of poverty leads many to an undignified life.
We often hear ?It doesn?t affect me!?. But isn't the responsibility for the quality of life of others also ours? Aren?t we capable of creating an impact on others?
It is estimated that 8,000 people are homeless in Portugal [1]. However, the multiplicity of definitions of this notion makes quantification impossible. The fact that several homeless individuals are not visually identifiable and the difficulty in accessing many places to stay overnight (chosen for privacy and/or protection reasons) are two of the reasons.
In the Enational strategy for the homeless , the concept is defined as a person ?who, regardless of their nationality, age, sex, socioeconomic status and physical and mental health condition, is homeless, living in a public space, housed in an emergency shelter or living in a precarious location, or without a home, in temporary accommodation designated for this purpose? [2].
Through this categorization, homeless individuals are represented as a homogeneous group, thus denying the entire panoply of situations, behaviors and experiences; they are taken as a ?single object? leading to a mismatch between the target of the policies and the subjects who feel these policies.
These people, who live on the streets, do not form a category apart from the rest of society. On the contrary! A definition based on ?what these people don?t have? obfuscates ?what they have?. In this way, what ?they don?t have? have? may be a lot, but it cannot lead to disregarding what ?they have?: dreams, capabilities, values, feelings .
And this is exactly what Forall Phones values! And because we seek to create an impact on society and our customers, between November and December last year we launched a social solidarity campaign to collect essential goods.< br/>During the Christmas season we supported some associations in Lisbon with the delivery of blankets, clothes, blankets and non-perishable food that were distributed to homeless individuals in the city.
The collection was carried out in our Lisbon store, but throughout the year you can leave your contribution, going directly to the associations or permanent collection points. Don't settle for this landscape, because you can be the one to make a difference, no matter how small it may seem.
Forall Phones promises to continue launching campaigns and initiatives to change this reality!
Think Social, change the rules!
Rafaela de Melo
Sources: [1] Diário de Notícias, [2] EAPN Lisboa
