Brussels' 22 Dutch-speaking community centres are tackling poverty and social exclusion throughout October with a month-long campaign combining community activities and fundraising.
The campaign was launched on Monday at the Pianofabriek community centre in Saint-Gilles, where participants and local residents gathered for the first lunch. The campaign, called "een stevige patat tegen armoede," or roughly, "a hearty potato against poverty," will bring people together through a series of activities focused on solidarity and social inclusion.
The centres will serve potato-based meals to raise money for eight organisations belonging to the Brussels Platform Against Poverty, with proceeds going to support organisations.
The initiative comes against a backdrop of persistent poverty in Brussels. Almost a quarter of the capital's residents are at increased risk of poverty, while nearly 10,000 people are homeless or without stable housing and more than 50,000 people are living in the Brussels-Capital Region without legal residence status.
According to the community centres, people living in poverty face daily barriers that make it harder for them to participate fully in society.
The 22 centres therefore aim to keep access to their activities as open as possible, with events taking place throughout October.
On 17 October, the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty, Brussels residents are being encouraged to hang a white sheet tied in a knot from their windows or façades. A lantern procession through central Brussels will take place later that day.
The campaign will end on 26 October, when the money raised will be donated to the eight organisations within the Brussels Platform Against Poverty. The platform will also celebrate its 20th anniversary that day.
This year's theme is "A life in poverty is full of barriers."
