{"id":6431,"date":"2020-04-08T09:53:08","date_gmt":"2020-04-08T15:53:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/?p=6431"},"modified":"2020-04-09T10:00:54","modified_gmt":"2020-04-09T16:00:54","slug":"lithuanias-children-from-at-risk-families-elderly-suffer-from-quarantine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/lithuanias-children-from-at-risk-families-elderly-suffer-from-quarantine\/","title":{"rendered":"Lithuania\u2019s Children from At-Risk Families, Elderly Suffer from Quarantine"},"content":{"rendered":"

BNS with additional reporting from Sandra Baksys<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Children from at-risk families and elderly shut-ins at high risk of coronavirus have become even more vulnerable since the start of Lithuania\u2019s COVID-19 quarantine. And despite this increasing need, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) providing assistance are facing worsening shortages of both funds and volunteers.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe have even had such horrible calls when parents say, \u2018Take my kids, we can\u2019t make it\u00a0 <\/span>anymore.\u2019 You realize that they don\u2019t want to give up their children but have reached their limits,\u201d Rasa Zaidovait\u0117 of SOS Lithuanian Children\u2019s Villages (Vaik\u0173 Kaimai Lietuvoje) told BNS.<\/span><\/p>\n

The nonprofit NGO assists around 300 at-risk families across Lithuania. With the help of social workers, parents from such families often receive treatment for psychiatric disorders and alcohol or drug addiction.<\/span><\/p>\n

Zaidovait\u0117, the head of SOS\u2019s family services, says the charity initially moved to remote communications with its client families when the quarantine started. Still, it had to carefully revert to some in-person interactions after various challenges emerged. <\/span><\/p>\n

Work might have to be suspended <\/span>because of coronavirus<\/strong><\/p>\n

The NGO Save the Children Lithuania has faced two key problems, including a shortfall in donations and a growing need for assistance among its client families, its leader Rasa Di\u010dpetrien\u0117 says.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe estimate that we might lose around 40 percent of the donations we expected to receive this year because of the coronavirus. Around 50 activity centers attended by about 1,000 people are the backbone of our organization. We are committed to support those centers financially and to steer our clients to them. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut if our organization doesn\u2019t survive, then we will not be able to help our kids, and every child we serve has a family where there might also be elderly, even children who are ill,\u201d Dicpetriene told BNS.<\/span><\/p>\n

She said a concert to support Save the Children had been planned for March but had to be postponed, costing the organization the 200,000 euros in donations it collects from it every year. Furthermore, the quarantine closed a majority of Lithuania\u2019s retail shops that carried 2,000 of the charity\u2019s donation boxes. Now, only those at food stores, a mere several hundred, are still accessible to donors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

As educational establishments and activities centers were closed, Save the Children started consulting with the families of its children remotely and providing essential food products, Di\u010dpetrien\u0117 said. Yet, if the current quarantine is extended until the summer, she warned, Save the Children might have to close.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have any financial reserves,\u201d Dicpetriene said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Less frequent visits to elderly in need<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

The Order of Malta\u2019s social welfare program in Lithuania (the Maltie\u010diai) provides regular assistance to about 2,600 elderly by delivering groceries or hot meals to their homes.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cAfter the quarantine was introduced, we had to review our services,\u201d Maltie\u010diai Secretary General Dalia Kedavi\u010dien\u0117 told BNS. \u201cThe key challenge we identified was delivering food safely. We have now split our elderly clients into two groups \u2013 those having vital and non-vital needs. We will continue providing hot meals to the elderly who depend on them.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cFor other elderly who can still cook, we deliver packages including dry or non-perishable food items once a week instead of several times a week, like we used to, in order to reduce the risk of infection. Our staff and volunteers also wear facemasks and gloves when they deliver and have as little person-to-person contact as possible,\u201d she said.<\/span><\/p>\n

Private businesses are also contributing to the delivery of food to elderly shut-ins, Kedavi\u010dien\u0117 said.<\/span><\/p>\n

In an email interview conducted by Sandy Baksys for Draugas News, program director Rasa Stukien\u0117 said that the Order of Malta is already putting together special Easter packages for all the homebound elderly and special-needs children it serves across Lithuania.<\/span><\/p>\n

Stukien\u0117 also reported that the Maltie\u010diai are participating in the Gediminas Legion, an organization channeling civil society volunteerism to help municipalities fight the spread of COVID-19 and assist those in need. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMoreover, we work with the Emergency Operations Center of Vilnius, informing the public, delivering food and medications to the elderly, helping coordinate the search for medical equipment, emergency transportation, and much more.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Last but not least, Stukien\u0117 said, after working with Lithuanian civil and military authorities in the early days of the pandemic to screen international arrivals at Lithuanian airports, the Maltie\u010diai are now working with partner organizations and individuals to raise funds for desperately-needed medical supplies and equipment, such as masks and respirators. As part of this medical aid effort, the Order will also assist with the logistics of purchasing and delivering supplies to hospitals and clinics. <\/span><\/p>\n

Additional activity<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Gintar\u0117 Guzevi\u010diut\u0117, Secretary General at the Lithuanian Red Cross, says volunteers from that NGO typically provide emotional assistance to elderly people and maintain the \u201chuman connection.\u201d Still, since the start of the quarantine, they have had to start giving food as well. <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe had been calling our elderly clients every other day and inquiring how they are doing. But then we realized we could protect them from contracting the virus by delivering what they need to their homes so that they don\u2019t need to go out to the store or pharmacy,\u201d Guzevi\u010di\u016bt\u0117 told BNS.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe set a certain budget for every elderly person per week. A volunteer is told by an elderly person what they need most, and we deliver those items to them within those financial parameters,\u201d she added.<\/span><\/p>\n

Red Cross volunteers delivered over one hundred packages last week, Guzevi\u010di\u016bt\u0117 said.<\/span><\/p>\n

She noted that the organization currently assists around 400 elderly, total. And it has already received almost 30,000 euros in donations to support the program. <\/span><\/p>\n

The Lithuanian Red Cross is also now looking for around 150 \u201cshopping and delivery\u201d volunteers who could help approximately 800 elderly people in Vilnius, Kaunas, and Klaip\u0117da buy products with the elders\u2019 own money so they don\u2019t need to go out during the quarantine.<\/span><\/p>\n

A Call for Volunteers<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

Maisto Bankas (Food Bank) also had to adapt its operations after Lithuania was placed under quarantine. Just as before, some food products nearing their expiration date are being collected from retail chains and distributed to some 600 NGOs. But other near-expiration items that used to be collected by the needy, themselves, before the quarantine was put in place now have to be delivered to those people.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn Vilnius alone, we have delivered food packages to almost 1,000 people. In most cases, they are elderly, sick, or poor,\u201d Migl\u0117 Petronyt\u0117 of Maisto Bankas told BNS.<\/span><\/p>\n

She said she expects the month of April to bring even more challenges and more need. <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BNS with additional reporting from Sandra Baksys. Children from at-risk families and elderly shut-ins at high risk of coronavirus have become even more vulnerable since the start of Lithuania\u2019s COVID-19 quarantine. And despite this increasing need, non-governmental organizations (NGOs) providing assistance are facing worsening shortages of both funds and volunteers. \u201cWe have even had such …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9,"featured_media":6424,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[236,81],"tags":[111],"class_list":["post-6431","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","","category-charity","category-health","tag-baksys-s"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6431","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6431"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6431\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6432,"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6431\/revisions\/6432"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6424"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6431"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6431"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.draugas.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6431"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}