General

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.

From the Early Care and Neurodevelopmental Service of Envera, a non-profit organization that works for the social and labor inclusion of people with intellectual disabilities and whose team of child and adolescent care is a reference in the Community of Madrid, we put ourselves in the place of these families: we can not help but think of the parents who today are finding at home an excess of motor restlessness, high doses of irritability, tantrums more or less lasting and non-acceptance of limits, to name just some of the behaviors that can easily appear in children with developmental disorders to a drastic change in their routines and daily support.

Our multidisciplinary team made up of psychologists, special education teachers, speech therapists, physiotherapists, social workers and other social and health professionals has put together some keys to make these days more bearable for the whole family.

Katy de los Reyes is the physician coordinator of health care at Envera's Support and Care Services. Together with her team, she watches over the health of more than 150 people in residences and day centers in Madrid and Colmenar Viejo. But in the state of national alarm in which we find ourselves, when the closure of occupational and day care centers has been decreed, her great concern are the residents who remain under the care of our organization 24 hours a day: 83 people with intellectual disabilities, including adults, elderly and major dependents.

In view of the exceptional situation we are experiencing, Envera offers our beneficiaries, workers, families, clients, collaborators and visitors all the information about the actions we are carrying out in these difficult times, where working together will once again be the key to success for all of us.

Envera is always in close coordination with the health and social policy authorities. Today, as always, people come first for Envera, and their well-being and the protection of their jobs and care are our driving mission.

The Minister of Housing and Local Administration of the Community of Madrid, David Perez, this morning received the first three students of Envera, Clara, Ximena and Alejandro, who will perform training internships in the area he directs, under the agreement signed last December between Envera and this Ministry to promote the employability of people with intellectual disabilities and knowledge of public administration, in order to compete for positions reserved through social clauses.