Cáritas Española and Fiare Banca Ética have teamed up to offer a new system of prepaid bank cards so that participants of the various diocesan Cáritas in the country can purchase food, clothing and basic necessities “simply and discreetly”. This model represents a commitment to a support model that ensures personal dignity and autonomy in accessing these rights.
To date, more than 600 cards have been issued under this agreement and there are many diocesan Caritas (such as Santander, Bilbao, Tortosa or Valladolid) that use this tool in their support models for vulnerable individuals and families, with the aim to guarantee them access to basic necessities in a dignified way, as is the case for food aid applicants in the various diocesan territories.
In the short term, this collaboration with Fiare Banca Ética will allow the progressive introduction of the new Caritas into this method of responding to highly precarious situations, which is inspired by the dignity of aid and respect for the autonomy of the participants.
It is a prepaid card that will allow the people served to buy autonomously in food shops through the economic aid they receive and which will be delivered to the families valued by the Hospitality resources of each Cáritas. The amount assigned will depend from time to time on the need and on the number of family members.
With this new project we want to protect the absolute anonymity of the person who, due to their current situation, goes to the institution and allows families access to perishable and fresh products, as well as personal and household hygiene items .
This modality avoids stigmatization and improves the participation and inclusion of beneficiaries, being able to independently choose a variety of foods in local establishments and not having to go to charity food distribution centres.
“It is a question of responding to these new times with new formulas that make it possible to cover basic needs by a commitment to the dignity of people and aid, as well as strengthening local commerce”, explain from Cáritas.
Add efforts to facilitate access to ethical financial services for vulnerable people
Fiare Banca Ética and Cáritas Española signed an agreement at the beginning of the year aimed at facilitating access to Fiare Banca Ética’s financial products and services, which serves to strengthen the relationship between the two entities and advance in the defense of common values , such as inclusion, cooperation and solidarity, in which they have been working together for years.
Cáritas’ commitment to ethical finance and the solidarity economy
As underlined by the general secretary of Cáritas Española, Natalia Peiro, in the act of signing the agreement, “this collaboration with Fiare Banca Ética stems from our commitment to a model of financial institutions in which values such as respect for human rights and care for creation distinguishes their investments.” “Cáritas has spent years championing a financial management model committed to building a more just world in which people take priority over economic benefits, and this agreement will reinforce that goal,” he added.
Cáritas’ commitment to the Solidarity Economy, to which 57,095,035 euros was allocated last year, demonstrates that there is another way of doing economy and doing business, and that an economy at the service of people is possible where you are the priority over the economic benefit.
