The Brussels government approved a grant of €30 million for the city's Public Social Welfare Centres (CPAS), Brussels Ministers for Local Authorities and for Social Action Bernard Clerfayt and Alain Maron announced on Friday.
Every municipality of Belgium has a CPAS to ensure the right to social assistance and social integration for every Belgian citizen.
The CPAS will very quickly be confronted with a consequent increase in the requests for social assistance, according to Clerfayt and Maron, particularly those relating to paying rent or bills, or even in terms of food aid.
The money will be used in particular to hire additional staff, grant new social aid and develop services for vulnerable groups.
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These thirty million euros constitute "a balloon of air for the CPAS and a relief for the finances of the municipalities, which have already been hit hard by the coronavirus crisis," said Clerfayt. "But it is, above all, a help to the needy. In Brussels, many of them were already having difficulty finishing the end of the month and many more will fall into precarious situations," he reflected.
"Helping and supporting people facing social and health difficulties is an essential objective of this significant amount of money made available by the Brussels government," said Maron.
The Brussels Times
