“PAE” — Emergency Assistance Project

Rationale

For PAS, “citizenship begins at the table,” which is why we created our first project, aimed at breaking the vicious cycle of hunger and poverty. It consists of the monthly distribution of basic food baskets to an average of 15 low-income families living in São Roque, for an initial period of 3 months; after a case review, support can be extended to a maximum of 6 months. The baskets contain highly nutritious staples such as rice, beans, cassava flour, cornmeal, vegetable oil, and sugar, among others. At the end of 3 or 6 months, participating families are replaced by new ones, so that, democratically, a larger number of people can access the benefit. Participants also have responsibilities of their own, meeting a series of requirements that promote integration or reintegration into the community, boost self-esteem, and provide better living conditions.

Type of service

“Assistance” and “Defense and Guarantee of Rights.”

Service name

Basic Social Protection (protection and comprehensive family support).

Coverage

Municipal.

Location

Rua Enrico Dell'Acqua, 288 — Centro — São Roque, SP, Brazil.

Operation

• Day and time: Tuesdays, 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM.
• Families served: at least 15 per month.

Users

People and families facing personal or social vulnerability or risk, who reach out to PAS on their own or are referred by the courts, government agencies, the Guardianship Council, or others.

Overall goal

To break the vicious cycle of hunger and poverty.

Specific goals

• Provide emergency support to registered families;
• Encourage the exercise of citizenship and better quality of life to boost self-esteem;
• Require compliance with program conditions, avoiding dependency on handouts.

Implementation and strategies

• Registering families and referring them to existing services;
• Donating food baskets, clothing, shoes, medicine, cooking gas, etc.;
• Helping families sort out their identity documents;
• Improving housing conditions in cases of extreme need, using the family's own labor as a contribution;
• Ensuring compliance through visits by volunteers: 1) presenting ID documents for all family members, children's vaccination records, and proof of school attendance for school-age children; 2) pregnant women must attend prenatal checkups, which, once confirmed, grant access to a full baby layette; 3) after birth, the baby's growth is monitored for a year, with breastfeeding required for at least the first 6 months; 4) in cases involving substance dependency, participants must attend Alcoholics Anonymous meetings.

Resources

• Human: volunteers (1 coordinator, 1 receptionist, 2 volunteers for home visits).
• Financial: donations from individuals, businesses, and events.
• Material: funded with our own resources.

Monitoring and evaluation

• Monitoring is carried out by the project coordinator;
• Evaluation is carried out by the coordinator and the entire team (volunteers, partners, participants), based on indicators such as: a) compliance with requirements; b) attendance when summoned; c) personal satisfaction and relationships with family, neighbors, and the broader community;
• The team evaluates each participant after 3 months of support to decide whether to discharge them, keep them in the project, or refer them to PROMAS.

Note: families remain in the project for 3 to 6 months; if the need persists, they are referred to PROMAS — the Mãos Solidárias Project.

R$120 (about USD equivalent) is a basic food basket. It's what feeds a family in São Roque this month.