District Administrator Christoph Göbel wants to set up a “huge solidarity community action” together with the welfare associations and neighborhood helpers in the district.
The background to this is the decision of the district council to set up a corona emergency aid fund for people who got into financial difficulties during the pandemic.
“Too many legal and bureaucratic hurdles,” explains Göbel.
It is difficult to accept donations from companies with which you work in some way.
Therefore, the Arbeiterwohlfahrt has agreed to open a donation account.
Nevertheless, the district wants to properly advertise the emergency fund.
The money is supposed to be distributed more unbureaucratically and faster than, say, the November aid.
It is used in many places: "Our social workers report daily on many people who have slipped into poverty as a result of the crisis and whose situation is getting worse," says Andrea Betz from the Diakonie München und Oberbayern, who is currently also spokeswoman for the welfare associations.
Donation account
Coronanothilfe Landkreis München, Account holder: Arbeiterwohlfahrt Kreisverband München-Land, IBAN: DE61 7025 0150 0029 6183 86, Kreissparkasse München Starnberg Ebersberg
It is about people with great fears about their existence and the future because they can no longer pay their rent or the ancillary costs for whom the money for food is no longer enough.
Standard rate is not enough
People who live on welfare, but where the standard rate is not enough to compensate for the lack of lunch for the children in school or to buy end devices for homeschooling.
People like the 70-year-old, of whom Matthias Hilzensauer, district manager of Caritas reports, who is just over the border with her pension to get help from the state and who always kept herself afloat with a mini job as a waitress.
"But she hasn't been able to do that for a year," says Hilzensauer.
In addition to the rent, she currently has 350 euros a month to live on.
“100 euros a month would be enough for her to make ends meet for the near future.” A 55-year-old would like a tablet that Andrea Betz knows about.
She lives on her disability pension together with her sick mother, who she also looks after.
"Due to the corona pandemic, she is now living very isolated and hopes to make more contacts again through the tablet." The money from the emergency fund is intended for precisely such cases.
Lots of extra expenses
"FFP2 masks, hygiene material, additional payment of additional rental costs, additional payments for health costs - all these extras become a problem for many," says Andrea Betz.
"We want to give people courage and hope again, to give them a perspective - even if individual aid is of course not a panacea," says Betz.
In addition to financial support, people should also receive comprehensive advice on what could otherwise make their situation easier.
"In addition, we always want to clarify whether there aren't other aid funds, for example from the government, that could be used."
Means test
Even if the money should get to where it is needed quickly, it will first be checked whether the person is really in need.
"It's not about helping if someone can no longer service the loan for their house," says Göbel.
"It's about people who have nothing to fall back on." As the family with three children, of which Michael Germayer, head of the district association of the AWO, tells: The father on short-time work, the oldest daughter who has finished her training, but currently not even getting an internship and the youngest son, who can no longer keep up with homeschooling in fourth grade and who is now on the verge of whether he will make it to secondary school.
"With regular tutoring over a few months, you could achieve a lot with relatively little money," says Germayer.
Uncover need for help
The donation money, even if it is invested with the AWO, should be distributed fairly.
"The relief of misery comes before any organizational thinking," emphasizes Germayer.
"People can
contact
the neighborhood
help
, the advice centers or the central email address (
coronanothilfelandkreismuenchen@web.de
)," explains Andrea Betz.
The consultants can decide for themselves up to an amount of 500 euros, from 500 euros the four-eyes principle applies and the management must agree.
What District Administrator Göbel still hopes for: "To uncover a need for help that no one has recognized so far." He would also like to encourage those who have been ashamed to ask for help to get in touch.
The goal: The donation fund should be a sign of solidarity in the district.