#SzczecinPomaga #SzczecinHelps – remember about other people

The coronavirus pandemic is a challenge to us all, but it particularly affects the elderly and the lonely. For this reason, we encourage residents to join the #SzczecinPomaga (#SzczecinHelps) campaign. The holiday season is ahead of us – let's take care of our relatives, senior citizens and neighbours together.

Support for senior citizens

Senior citizens are in need of special protection and support all the time. Elderly and lonely people can easily report their willingness to obtain additional necessary assistance. All you need to do is call the dedicated hotline at 22 505 11 11 and report your needs. The necessary information will be sent to the Municipal Family Assistance Centre (Miejski Ośrodek Pomocy Rodzinie). An employee of the centre will talk to the senior citizen about his or her needs and pass them on for further assistance.

If the report concerns, for example, shopping or delivering medicines, a volunteer from the Senior Centre (Centrum Seniora), who will contact the elderly and arrange all the details, will provide their assistance.

In the first place, the assistance will be aimed at lonely and elderly people who cannot rely on the support from their family or other people.

“We urge seniors who have such an opportunity to rely on the support of their relatives,” says Maciej Homis, spokesman for the Municipal Family Assistance Centre in Szczecin. “This will allow volunteers to reach those who, due to circumstances, are unable to obtain support in any other way.”

Join the volunteers

Mutual support is crucial in this difficult time. We encourage people who want to offer their assistance to others and devote their free time to join the group of volunteers.

Any adult person can join the base. It is enough to fill in a simple form on the website of the POLITES Association – http://www.polites.org.pl/szczecinpomaga-zglos-chec-udzielenia-pomocy/ .

“In the form the volunteer provides information on the support he or she is ready to provide,” says Maciej Homis. “It can involve everyday matters, such as shopping or delivering medicines. It can also be remote assistance, for example a simple telephone conversation with a senior citizen.

Depending on the responses made, the person applying may be directed to the database of the POLITES Association or the Senior Centre. These organisations coordinate the activities of volunteers.

Neighbourly Help #JakSięMasz #HowAreYou

Do you know who lives in your immediate vicinity? Maybe it is an elderly person who is afraid of leaving the house, but at the same time they do not want to ask anyone for help because they think that it will cause that someone unnecessary trouble?

“We appeal to the inhabitants of our city to support people from their immediate vicinity,” says the spokesman of the Municipal Family Assistance Centre in Szczecin. “Sometimes it is enough to ask    #HowAreYou and offer your assistance in running daily errands. Such insignificant gestures mean a lot today.”

Caring for relatives or assisting neighbours will allow volunteers and employees of the institution to reach the lonely people who cannot cope without additional support.

See more on: www.koronawirus.szczecin.eu