Come on grandparents!

A cheque to pay the most urgent bills, a bag of shopping to fill the empty fridge, help to do the cleaning for those who are left alone and can’t manage it anymore. “Forza nonni!” (“Come on grandparents!”) is a project born after the outbreak of the pandemic. When it suddenly became clear that the older ones had become much more fragile, and – unfortunately – because they were dying. Their life had suddenly become complicated and everything had become more difficult: from collecting medicines to maintaining a minimum of human relationships with their children and grandchildren.

Deep loneliness, marked by fear but also by despair. So we got going and identified the most fragile “over 80s” in Milan, Rome, Bari and Genoa, looking into every single situation in a prompt manner and checking the Isee forms, documents indicating financial situations. This is an experience already started in Piedmont in recent months by Specchio dei tempi, which the Specchio d’Italia foundation is now replicating in four other regions.

To support our elderly, we have launched an assistance programme that provides three different forms of help for each beneficiary: the delivery of the Thirteenth Salary of Friendship (the € 300 subsidy that every Christmas, since 1976, we have offered to thousands of elderly people); the donation of two bags of shopping a month left safely on the doormat; the assistance of a domestic worker for four hours a month. We also provide a constant telephone presence with moments of sharing and even psychological support if necessary. All ways to say “Come on grandparents: you are not alone!”.