General

Envera students in Tenerife and Gran Canaria have returned to classes after the temporary suspension of activities decreed by the Canary Employment Service on March 12 due to the situation caused by COVID-19. Envera, in coordination with the authorities, has taken all necessary measures to guarantee the safety and health of all persons, this being its priority objective.

Envera joins the stopcovid.io platform with the challenge of creating 38 jobs for people with intellectual disabilities in the midst of the social crisis resulting from the impact of the coronavirus in our country. With this project, Envera also intends to support the fight against COVID-19 by manufacturing surgical masks at its Special Employment Center in Madrid.

After having put in place serious prevention, protection and containment measures to deal with the coronavirus health crisis, the progress of the state of alarm and the relaxation of the de-escalation rules set by the health authorities have allowed Envera's healthcare centers to gradually return to normal operations.

Envera, in collaboration with Ferrovial, opens a call for employment to fill 133 jobs for people in possession of a certificate of disability to perform auxiliary tasks of information and capacity control in the stations of Cercanías - Renfe in the Community of Madrid.

The impact of the health and economic crisis caused by the coronavirus is dramatic. The pandemic is devastating in Spain in terms of the number of infected, sick and dead people, and has devastated employment and business forecasts of companies, especially social and non-profit companies such as Envera. This has made it necessary to reinvest and adapt to the new scenario and new product demands in order to preserve Envera's objective: the social and labor inclusion of people with disabilities, especially intellectual disabilities, who work in special employment centers (CEE). People who, in such difficult times, are giving their all so that the organization can fulfill its commitments to the companies that have placed their trust in it.

The president of Envera, José Antonio Quintero, has signed the adhesion of Envera, a non-profit organization working since 1977 to achieve the social and labor inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities, to the Platform Inclusive Education YES, special ALSO, which was born "at the initiative of people with disabilities, their families and teachers deeply concerned about the elimination of special education centers in the Spanish education system.

Ainhoa Puebla, 38 years old, employee in the laundry of the Envera Special Employment Center in San Fernando de Henares (Madrid), is devoted these days to attend, as a volunteer of the Guadalix de la Sierra City Council, to families and elderly or sick people who cannot or must break their confinement to go shopping: she does it for them. Every day, since the state of alarm began in Spain for COVID-19, Ainhoa puts herself at the service of those who most need support and goes on errands for them so that they can have everything they need.

The confinement and social distance necessary to overcome together the crisis caused by Covid-19 has made us adapt our way of being in the world to the new circumstances and also the way to continue collaborating to improve the lives of the most vulnerable people through inclusion, equal opportunities and social justice, a responsibility that in this crisis and post-crisis is going to be more necessary than ever.

In this dramatic scenario we also have good news: we can be great collaborators in the distance of social projects through corporate social volunteering that only needs social networks, imagination and the desire to continue contributing. Envera wants to help companies and organizations, which have been forced in many cases to change the way they work as we have all been forced to adapt our social relationships, to continue helping each other and to move forward with their CSR plans.

In view of the current crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, aware of the difficult social and labor situation that we have had to live and that makes us have to emotionally manage such delicate moments, from the direction of Envera's Support and Care Services, and with the professional contribution of the team of health psychologists of Early Care, the COVID-19 Psychological Support Service has been launched.

From the Support Unit (UNAP) of Envera we compiled the main social policy measures promoted by the Community of Madrid and the Government of Spain and from which people with intellectual disabilities can benefit.

Envera would like to offer this useful information to workers, beneficiaries and their families so that they can learn about the resources available to them without leaving home.