Helena dos Santos Serra, the first woman to hold the position of provider of a Santa Casa da Misericórdia (SCM) in Portugal and provider emeritus of the SCM in Albufeira, where she lived, died this Friday, aged 93.
The body will be held at 11am tomorrow, March 00st, at the Church of Santa Ana, in Albufeira, from 31am until 11pm.
The funeral will take place on Monday, April 1st, at 10am. After the funeral ceremonies at the Church of Santa Ana, the body will be taken to the New Cemetery of Albufeira.
Helena Serra, was the widow of Manuel Santos Serra, founder of the PS, doctor, former president of the Albufeira Municipal Assembly and patron of the Albufeira Health Center. She was the mother of seven children and had six grandchildren and two great-granddaughters, according to a biography published by SCM de Albufeira on its Facebook page
He was born in Bela Vista, Angola, where he came from at the age of six, having completed his academic training in Coimbra. She lived with her husband, a doctor, in Albufeira for more than six decades.
She was a councilor at Albufeira City Council. She was the founder and president of the Red Cross group in Albufeira, from which she gave full support to the integration of Portuguese people returning from former colonies, who arrived in the municipality in the hundreds.
She was the first woman to be elected provider in the 20th century, «seeing as her mission the work she carried out for more than three decades at the head of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Albufeira, always with an eye towards assisting the most disadvantaged in society».
During the time he carried out his activity at the head of the Misericórdia de Albufeira destinations, the 22 services that were created stand out, namely: nursing home, daycare center with extended hours, support for drug addiction, for mild and profoundly disabled people, for patients with AIDS, at the time when it became a scourge, to abandoned patients, to women victims of domestic violence with a shelter created for that purpose and where they stayed with minor children, the 'Firilampos', name given by Miguel Torga, personal friend, to a home for abandoned children, with surrounding land, a small amusement park and spaces for teenagers, where they stayed and attended public schools, home service and many other problems that involved work in seeking economic support from the various official entities and private donations.
He was thus able to manage an institution with more than 200 workers, including technicians qualified for the functions to be performed, giving Misericórdia de Albufeira work to many unemployed nationals and foreigners, who, for this reason, were also part of an integration objective of people most in need.
She was awarded the Order of Merit by the President of the Republic Jorge Sampaio, by Prime Minister António Guterres and by the Albufeira City Council with the City Medal of Honor, gold grade. She was recognized, in 2012, as Ombudsman Emeritus of Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Albufeira.
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