Isha Sesay
A PARISH in Mallorca has launched a crowdfunding project to house people who are unable to pay rent.
The Mare de Deu de Montserrat Parish in Palma want to renovate classrooms in their building in order to accommodate those in financial difficulty.
Financed through a crowdfunding project named Projecte Sojorn, the parish aims to raise €30,000 to complete the work.
As well as providing a warm room to sleep in temporarily, the parish aims to promote a ‘lifestyle where not only spaces are shared, but also where socio-environmental objectives are achieved’.
In total, the adapted space will be able to house 16 people in 11 different rooms.
Last month it was estimated that over 33,000 people are suffering from extreme poverty in the Balearic Islands due to the coronavirus crisis.
The bleak findings, published by the Balearic Social Observatory, revealed that the pandemic has increased poverty and exclusion exponentially as well as worsening pre-existing cases of vulnerability.
This claim can be supported by the sudden growth in demand for aid to cover basic needs in the social services system since the state of alarm was enforced.
Moreover, the region’s high dependence on tourism, which suffered immensely last summer, left thousands without work and money to cover basic needs such as food or rent.
Meanwhile, over 35,000 jobs have been lost in the region since March 2020.
The unemployment level is predicted to stand at 17.3% by the second quarter of 2021 – an increase of more than 5% from the same period in 2020.
Analysis by Spanish bank BBVA also indicated that those under the age of 35-years-old suffered the most in regards to losing their jobs last year.
