Social Services attends to cases detected in the #RAC program that require psychological help

The municipal Social Services are handling cases of people who need psychological help that have been detected because of the launch of the Collective Help Network (RAC) promoted by the City Council for the basic problems that affect us most. The coronavirus crisis . As explained by the mayor, Toni Pérez, "in the days that the #RAC has been in operation, people who require more specific and professional attention or help than that offered by the program have contacted us."

A program designed to channel and coordinate people who voluntarily and altruistically want to help the population at risk and vulnerable, especially the elderly or those with mobility problems, so that they have the care, attention and services that they need, for example, to buy grouceries and medicines without exposing themselves to going outside or simply having a telephone conversation to alleviate their loneliness.

The mayor explained "in view of the more complex needs detected, these cases are being referred from  #RAC to professionals in the social centers closest to each person's place of residence, in order to provide better care and make a better monitoring of these individual situations, even once this coronavirus crisis is overcome ”. "It will be these municipal professionals," he added, "who contact each person to give them the help and attention they need."

Likewise, Pérez has reported that "now there are 285 volunteers affiliated with #RAC and 37 users who have requested some type of aid." Part of the volunteers are collaborating in shifts in the space provided by the City Council in Raúl Mesa pavilion for homeless people, while there is also a group that is delivering food in La Almudena parish.

The mayor has clarified that "when developing the #RAC, work is carried out in coordination with the Local and National Police, to whom the list of people who are participating in the program is sent every day in late afternoon "

How to join the network

To be part of this Collective Aid Network just filling in the 'volunteer' or 'you need help' form, depending on the case, available on the City Council website - https://benidorm.org/es/incidencia/ campana-ayuda-contra-el-coronavirus - and Visit Benidorm - https://en.visitbenidorm.es/ver/5583/help-benidorm-coronavirus.html, both in Spanish and in English. In addition, the free phone number 900 701 322 has been enabled for specific people who need logistical support to fill out these forms or to take care of the means to do so.

In these forms, the volunteers collect information about their neighborhood, time availability, possible knowledge of languages ​​and controls in which they would like to collaborate: support for people with disabilities or the elderly, leisure and free time, food purchases and / or medications, support in Civil Protection tasks, etc. For their part, people who need help need to indicate what kind of care they require - purchase of medicines, child or elderly care, help in preparing meals, etc. - as well as what days or hours they need it.