"Since we extend life years, we must give life to the years", he defended Albino Martins, responsible for the Parish Center of Martim Longo, the entity that will manage the new Nossa Senhora da Conceição Home for the Elderly in this village in the municipality of Alcoutim. This new social facility was officially inaugurated this Wednesday, February 1st, in one of the areas of the country with the oldest population.
To get here, it took many years, a large investment in the construction of infrastructure, made exclusively by the Chamber of Alcoutim, the will of two municipal executives with two distinct political colors and a long negotiation with the Social Security Institute, which will allow 29 of the 37 beds in the home are shared and, as such, accessible to those with lower incomes.
The minister of Labour, Social Security and Solidarity Vieira da Silva, who oversees this institute, was, moreover, the guest of honor at the inauguration of the Home, in recognition of the role of the State in this process.
The ceremony turned out to be an authentic event, in the quiet Martim Longo, bringing together a good part of the village's population. And no wonder: in addition to being an old dream, "over 20 years old", of the local inhabitants, this is also a much-needed valence, although there are already several social responses aimed at the elderly, guaranteed by the same entity who will now be responsible for the Home.
The Parish Center of Martim Longo runs a Day Center and provides home support in this alcouteneja village. She also has experience in managing elderly homes, as she is responsible for a structure of this nature in Cachopo, in the neighboring municipality of Tavira.
Despite what already exists, a space was needed where the elderly in more sensitive conditions, due to the loss of autonomy and their health status, could be welcomed. Taking this into account, the Alcoutim City Council decided to go ahead with the construction of the Home and invest the approximately 1,3 million euros that the work cost - infrastructure, accessibility and urban arrangements -, even though it had to bear the expense alone, a as there was no possibility of resorting to any State or European Union support.
The first stone was laid in the final stretch of the last term of Francisco Amaral (PSD) as mayor of Alcoutim, in August 2013, and executed, for the most part, in the current term, in which the autarchy is headed by the socialist Osvaldo Gonçalves.
In this case, as the president of the Alcoutim Chamber made a point of stressing, what really mattered was to create a long-needed social response. And that was the central message of Osvaldo Gonçalves' speech, during which he made a point of remembering the role of his predecessor, now mayor of Castro Marim, who was also at the ceremony.
As a result of this financial effort by the municipality, the infrastructure was built, which, despite being officially inaugurated only now, has been in operation since December. The money invested allowed us to build a modern home, with rooms of different types (single and with more beds), bathrooms designed for people with reduced mobility, several common areas and a large interior patio.
The elderly who are welcomed here will also have health monitoring and various activities designed to occupy their time with quality.
“This is an important investment and an achievement that was made possible through the pooling of efforts. With this investment of 1,3 million euros, in addition to reinforcing this social response, which is a need we have, we also directly created 22 jobs and, we hope, a few more indirect ones», according to Osvaldo Gonçalves.
The alcoutenejo mayor also highlighted the «vast experience» of the partner with whom the Chamber filed the management of the home. "They are close to commemorating 30 years of existence, during which they have developed work in terms of home support and day care," he said.
«This beautiful equipment only exists because several wishes came together, namely that of an institution that was already carrying out its activity here in Martim Longo, the will of the municipality of Alcoutim, which shouldered the financial responsibility for the work, which is extremely important, and Social Security, which provides support to the functioning without which it would not be possible to guarantee access to all users, namely the most needy», summed up, for his part, Minister Vieira da Silva.
Despite being pleased to be able to count on equipment that allows complementing the response that was already given by the institution he directs, Albino Martins, from the Parish Center of Martim Longo, warned, on the sidelines of the session, that it will not be easy to guarantee the sustainability of the space, taking into account the number of existing beds.
«Although we are facing this new field with enthusiasm and hope that everything goes well, this type of equipment with 30, 35 beds – this one has 37 beds – is always very difficult to manage financially. We are going to fight with all the weapons we have and the capacity that comes from our accumulated experience, but it will be very difficult», he considered.
"If we had been heard from the first hour and had not entered the process lately, our advice would be never to do with less than 45 beds," he said.
Even so, the Parish Center of Martim Longo has managed to guarantee the good functioning of the Home it has in Cachopo, which «only has 30 beds».
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