When the inability to make ends meet translates to the inability to keep a stable roof over a family’s head, the family’s future is at jeopardy. In some situations, the children abandon school and their future to earn money for the household’s immediate needs. In other situations, the children are removed from the home and placed in government care.
Housing poverty – a home facing structural, infrastructural, or health and comfort barriers – affects more than 400,000 people in Portugal, including countless children whose futures are put at risk by these conditions. An improvement to these families’ living conditions can alleviate this stress and remove the risk of the family being shattered, which is why the Barzilai Foundation is proud to announce a new partnership with Just A Change to retrofit and renovate homes for families in Portugal.
Just A Change is a Portuguese non-profit organization dedicated to rebuilding homes for people living in housing povertyconditions, utilizing an expansive network of volunteers, municipal councils and name-brand suppliers. The Barzilai Foundation is sponsoring the retrofitting of five homes in Portugal that will be rehabilitated, in order to remove the risk of child removal as well as bolster the family’s ability to achieve or maintain independence.
The parents in our cohort of five renovations face significant life challenges, ranging from serving as a single parent to fighting cancer while trying to cover the utter basics for their children. “These parents are doing everything they can, and because of the barriers they need to overcome, it’s just not enough,” said Brandon Sosa, CEO of the Barzilai Foundation. “Even with all their effort, their homes are in critical shape, and external support could lift them and their children to a much better situation.”
Interventions in these five homes range from structural basics like roofing and insulation to the replacement of damaged walls, doors, and flooring that posed safety risks to family members.
“For the children and the families living in these houses, the interventions we will implement will have a relevant impact on their future” said Clara Tripodi, Fundraising and Advocacy Manager at Just a Change. “Through the work we will realize in the different houses we will restore safety and comfort, giving the children and their family a dignified space where to live, grow and hopefully build many memories together!”
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