Maurice SkinnerCOVID-19, also known as the Coronavirus, is sweeping the world and affecting everyone’s work and personal life. In Japan, many initiatives are in full effect to combat this virus, and one NPO is doing its part to help children in need.
Florence is a Japanese specified non profit organization that specializes in helping children who deal with hardships at home. The NPO also provides social services that provide both children and parents a better life. This includes, but is not limited to, providing nursing care for children with special needs, preventing abuse and neglect of newborns, and small-sized daycares so parents may continue working. Donations are also possible thanks to their interactive website which is displayed in both Japanese and English.
Florence is taking it one step further by spearheading a project to provide support and assistance for families of whom are being impacted by COVID-19. Rallying behind their slogan “leave no child or parent behind,” the group is putting forward it’s best efforts to tackle the ongoing pandemic.
The Coronavirus Child Emergency Support Project aims to provide services to three main groups of families. They are households that have children with disabilities, economically unstable households and households with single parents. These households have a need for medical supplies that, like many other nations, are in short supply on a national level in Japan. The project aims to find medical supplies such as masks, alcohol and ethanol that are essential for children who require medical treatment at home.
The Coronavirus Child Emergency Support Project will also place efforts in promoting home delivery of food and other essentials for families. This includes strengthening subsidies to groups that provide support for projects and activities related to COVID-19, including food deliveries. According to Florence, by providing home delivery support, the project prevents families from isolation from the outside world.
Lastly, the project is also aiding in the surveyance of the needs of single-parent families. This includes having supplies available, as well as free care for sick children. Due to school closures, food expenditures for families nationwide have undergone a dramatic increase, which means wages for families have been decreasing at a shockingly alarming rate. Florence is also preparing a consultation service for single mothers that will be available in the very near future.
Florence is going above and beyond to make sure services are readily available for those who need them, whether they are a family that has fallen on hardships, a single mother or a family with a child that has a disability.
[Reference] Florence News
