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Ċentru Antida
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The Antide Family Services Centre, or Ċentru Antida, as it is known to families, is a community-based hub in the south eastern locality of Ħal Tarxien. Its support services are open to families experiencing poverty and social exclusion and those who are facing complex life challenges such as mental health difficulties and domestic violence. Services are available for families in distress facing complex life challenges from the localities of Ħal Tarxien, Paola, Fgura, Santa Luċija and Birżebbuġa.
Ċentru Antida has been operating since 2007 and is recognised as a welcoming family services hub through which referred and self-families are able to access a range of support initiatives that include social work, non-formal education opportunities, support groups, peer-to-peer support offered by survivors of domestic violence, mentoring, therapeutic emotional freedom support, mental health consultations for family caregivers and handicrafts-production as a therapeutic tool.
During weekdays, Ċentru Antida is open daily from 7.30 am until 4:00 pm or later in winter time and from 7.30 am to 2.00 pm between mid-July and mid-September. Ċentru Antida is based on the ground floor of 51, Tarxien Road in Ħal Tarxien, part of the main convent of the Sisters of Charity in Malta. It is accessible, having a welcoming environment with space for group-work, courses, offices, counselling rooms, socializing and relaxation space, and a small multi-use kitchen.
The centre’s manager is responsible for the management of a team of Volunteer Reception workers and Volunteer Handymen who undertake basic repair and maintenance in the homes of poor families.
Ċentru Antida has been operating since 2007 and is recognised as a welcoming family services hub through which referred and self-families are able to access a range of support initiatives that include social work, non-formal education opportunities, support groups, peer-to-peer support offered by survivors of domestic violence, mentoring, therapeutic emotional freedom support, mental health consultations for family caregivers and handicrafts-production as a therapeutic tool.
During weekdays, Ċentru Antida is open daily from 7.30 am until 4:00 pm or later in winter time and from 7.30 am to 2.00 pm between mid-July and mid-September. Ċentru Antida is based on the ground floor of 51, Tarxien Road in Ħal Tarxien, part of the main convent of the Sisters of Charity in Malta. It is accessible, having a welcoming environment with space for group-work, courses, offices, counselling rooms, socializing and relaxation space, and a small multi-use kitchen.
The centre’s manager is responsible for the management of a team of Volunteer Reception workers and Volunteer Handymen who undertake basic repair and maintenance in the homes of poor families.
Call us:
2180 9011 2180 8981 2767 2367 |
Write to us:
[email protected] |
Visit us:
51, Ċentru Antida Tarxien Road Tarxien TXN 1090 |
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Volunteer - Handyman
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Learning Support
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Charity Shop
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Articles / Books
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Family Resource Centre Model
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Volunteer Handymen carry out basic repair and maintenance works in the homes of service-using families. They also carry out maintenance works and errands at the centre. |
Each year, a number of non-formal education opportunities are offered to service users at both family service centre:
- An open-ended literacy group for vulnerable young persons over the age of 18 which was started a number of years ago, continued to run during the year. Learners are very vulnerable persons who would otherwise not have had access to self-development and non-formal learning had this opportunity not been available for them at a community-based family centre they value and feel very welcomed in.
- Learning support sessions are held every Friday throughout the scholastic year at Ċentru Antida, resuming in early October.
- Training sessions for different groups of volunteers are held throughout the year.
- SOAR Service members access a range of non-formal education initiatives at Ċentru Antida including a Saturday Club.
- Self-esteem groups.
- An open-ended literacy group for vulnerable young persons over the age of 18 which was started a number of years ago, continued to run during the year. Learners are very vulnerable persons who would otherwise not have had access to self-development and non-formal learning had this opportunity not been available for them at a community-based family centre they value and feel very welcomed in.
- Learning support sessions are held every Friday throughout the scholastic year at Ċentru Antida, resuming in early October.
- Training sessions for different groups of volunteers are held throughout the year.
- SOAR Service members access a range of non-formal education initiatives at Ċentru Antida including a Saturday Club.
- Self-esteem groups.
ARTICLE
BAZAAR AND CHARITY SHOPS ARE USEFUL CENTERS FOR EFFECTIVE RECYCLING
By Nora Macelli
I was in a group where you learn more as we take our responsibility to protect and sustain the environment, the creatures, the brethren in need. There was a man who complained that there is no place where you can give away good clothes for those in need. I pointed out to him that in Malta there is good number of Charity Shops and bazaars run by voluntary organizations. I gave him a list of some of them for him to choose the nearest ones for him to go make a donation.
We do not tend to look towards the Charity Shops and bazaars as a public service. These are places that are offering a number of services on many levels. For us at St Jeanne Antide Foundation managing two bazaars, they are places that people in the community who feel alone attend to have a chat with the manager of the place. It is a place where families in need can get things they need for free. It is a place where our Volunteer producing handicrafts of very high quality materials comes to find any used material in good condition to be able to create different products and then be sold to collect some of the funds to keep on helping us offer free services to so many families in need.
These Centers are also places where people can bring in and donate their nice items in good condition to be reused by others. We are making a favor to those who do not have the heart to dump away their belongings as we accept their items, while at the same time, they too are making us a favor as we are all the time getting goods offered for sale or free of charge to families in need. This is an example of reuse of furniture, clothing, decorative items, books and other items so that we accumulate and find no purpose in keeping anymore. There are also those who visit the bazaars frequently to find materials for his or her hobbies that can be recycled - such as fabrics, necklaces, books, pictures, colors, woolen clothes and many other things
The St. Jeanne Antide Foundation has two bazaars. One is situated in Tarxien Road, Tarxien, opposite Antide Center Foundation. The Bazaar is at home, since the sixties, used by Sor Laura Tanti, a charitable nun. We the Foundation workers still encounter adults who remember her and explain how Sor Laura has helped their family. The house used as a Bazaar today by the Foundation is the Sisters of Charity. As a Bazaar, it still welcomes families lacking necessities to turn to a bazaar to find items needed at a very low price. The providence is large and the abundance of goods is appreciated. Therefore, we the Social Workers of the Foundation make it possible to families in need to freely choose the things they need themselves, free of charge and without anyone knowing that they are poor. The principle and practice of Sor Laura of collecting food and household items needed for so many vulnerable families is still respected and alive. The Tarxien Bazaar is run by a couple on a voluntary basis - Alfred and Mildred Zammit . It was their idea to start this Bazaar and run it. In fact, it has been long for them of striving and spending long hours twice a week or more at this their voluntary mission. When it comes to active aging, I always think of this couple of good heart and a strong sense of endeavors to family support services in need.
The second Bazaar run by the Foundation is found at the Enrichetta centre in Birzebbuga which opened recently. It is part of the Sisters of Charity convent, which was used as a kindergarten. Today, Enrichetta Center, as Antide Center, is a place that offers support services to families in difficulty from Birżebbuġa's own community. At Enrichetta center, Social Workers and literacy specialist work with a large number of families for 3 days a week. In front of the center, there is also a Bazaar. This arrangement is good as who comes to the Bazaar and happens to need assistance, they can speak to the Social Worker and be received by the professionals, while also avail some useful items for the Bazaar. The Bazaar is currently headed by Sor Rose Rizzo, a charitable nun, who for many years worked as a Social Worker ladder and today, years after retirement, became a volunteer.
At the Foundation, we are trying to explore how we can adopt a more responsible manner means to act ethically and in terms of the earth and its creatures, especially our brothers and sisters in need. At the house which is currently undergoing its renovation so that one day, if we have the necessary means, can be opened as a national center of SOAR Foundation Service headed by women who have survived domestic violence, there is a large garden that we intend to manage with methods of permaculture, with technical assistance of Fr Mark Ciantar of the Franciscan Province of St. Paul the Apostle. In this site, once completed, we intend to start Social Enterprise, led by members of SOAR Service. The company could use agricultural products from this garden itself which are grown with sustainable methods.
The recycling practice in the Foundation does not stop here. There are many small initiatives that help us do our part, so that with sensitivity, we express great love to our sister, the earth, and its creatures. There's a lot we can do and much much more. The more we partner with others with the same vision and sense of urgency for concrete action, the more we raise faith and hope among us humans that perhaps were led to give up.
Bazaar Ħal Tarxien: 55 Triq Ħal Tarxien, Ħal Tarxien. Kull nhar ta’ Tnejn u Erbgħa, mid-9 ta’ filgħodu sa nofsinhar.
Bazaar Birżebbuġa: Ċentru Enrichetta, Misraħ il-Pajtier. Kull nhar ta’ Tlieta, mit-8.30 sal-11.30 ta’ filgħodu.
By Nora Macelli
I was in a group where you learn more as we take our responsibility to protect and sustain the environment, the creatures, the brethren in need. There was a man who complained that there is no place where you can give away good clothes for those in need. I pointed out to him that in Malta there is good number of Charity Shops and bazaars run by voluntary organizations. I gave him a list of some of them for him to choose the nearest ones for him to go make a donation.
We do not tend to look towards the Charity Shops and bazaars as a public service. These are places that are offering a number of services on many levels. For us at St Jeanne Antide Foundation managing two bazaars, they are places that people in the community who feel alone attend to have a chat with the manager of the place. It is a place where families in need can get things they need for free. It is a place where our Volunteer producing handicrafts of very high quality materials comes to find any used material in good condition to be able to create different products and then be sold to collect some of the funds to keep on helping us offer free services to so many families in need.
These Centers are also places where people can bring in and donate their nice items in good condition to be reused by others. We are making a favor to those who do not have the heart to dump away their belongings as we accept their items, while at the same time, they too are making us a favor as we are all the time getting goods offered for sale or free of charge to families in need. This is an example of reuse of furniture, clothing, decorative items, books and other items so that we accumulate and find no purpose in keeping anymore. There are also those who visit the bazaars frequently to find materials for his or her hobbies that can be recycled - such as fabrics, necklaces, books, pictures, colors, woolen clothes and many other things
The St. Jeanne Antide Foundation has two bazaars. One is situated in Tarxien Road, Tarxien, opposite Antide Center Foundation. The Bazaar is at home, since the sixties, used by Sor Laura Tanti, a charitable nun. We the Foundation workers still encounter adults who remember her and explain how Sor Laura has helped their family. The house used as a Bazaar today by the Foundation is the Sisters of Charity. As a Bazaar, it still welcomes families lacking necessities to turn to a bazaar to find items needed at a very low price. The providence is large and the abundance of goods is appreciated. Therefore, we the Social Workers of the Foundation make it possible to families in need to freely choose the things they need themselves, free of charge and without anyone knowing that they are poor. The principle and practice of Sor Laura of collecting food and household items needed for so many vulnerable families is still respected and alive. The Tarxien Bazaar is run by a couple on a voluntary basis - Alfred and Mildred Zammit . It was their idea to start this Bazaar and run it. In fact, it has been long for them of striving and spending long hours twice a week or more at this their voluntary mission. When it comes to active aging, I always think of this couple of good heart and a strong sense of endeavors to family support services in need.
The second Bazaar run by the Foundation is found at the Enrichetta centre in Birzebbuga which opened recently. It is part of the Sisters of Charity convent, which was used as a kindergarten. Today, Enrichetta Center, as Antide Center, is a place that offers support services to families in difficulty from Birżebbuġa's own community. At Enrichetta center, Social Workers and literacy specialist work with a large number of families for 3 days a week. In front of the center, there is also a Bazaar. This arrangement is good as who comes to the Bazaar and happens to need assistance, they can speak to the Social Worker and be received by the professionals, while also avail some useful items for the Bazaar. The Bazaar is currently headed by Sor Rose Rizzo, a charitable nun, who for many years worked as a Social Worker ladder and today, years after retirement, became a volunteer.
At the Foundation, we are trying to explore how we can adopt a more responsible manner means to act ethically and in terms of the earth and its creatures, especially our brothers and sisters in need. At the house which is currently undergoing its renovation so that one day, if we have the necessary means, can be opened as a national center of SOAR Foundation Service headed by women who have survived domestic violence, there is a large garden that we intend to manage with methods of permaculture, with technical assistance of Fr Mark Ciantar of the Franciscan Province of St. Paul the Apostle. In this site, once completed, we intend to start Social Enterprise, led by members of SOAR Service. The company could use agricultural products from this garden itself which are grown with sustainable methods.
The recycling practice in the Foundation does not stop here. There are many small initiatives that help us do our part, so that with sensitivity, we express great love to our sister, the earth, and its creatures. There's a lot we can do and much much more. The more we partner with others with the same vision and sense of urgency for concrete action, the more we raise faith and hope among us humans that perhaps were led to give up.
Bazaar Ħal Tarxien: 55 Triq Ħal Tarxien, Ħal Tarxien. Kull nhar ta’ Tnejn u Erbgħa, mid-9 ta’ filgħodu sa nofsinhar.
Bazaar Birżebbuġa: Ċentru Enrichetta, Misraħ il-Pajtier. Kull nhar ta’ Tlieta, mit-8.30 sal-11.30 ta’ filgħodu.
POVERTY IN MALTESE FAMILIES THAT WE Meet on a DAILY basis
Pope Francis spent the day of 17 November as the Day of the Poor. Poverty is a grim reality that erodes the dignity of the poor and restricts personal development and them moving forward toward the fullness of life and their welfare.
FACTORS THAT PUSHES FAMILIES INTO POVERTY
We the workers at the Foundation meet with a large number of families that have either lived in poverty from one generation to another or are sliding into poverty due to difficult circumstances they are facing. There are a number of factors and reasons that, together, lead to a situation of poverty. We find these and many other cases that make individuals and families poor:
Nowadays, we have an insidious phenomenon that is affecting many families - the high price of uncontrolled rents. The Social Workers all tell you how difficult it has become to help poor families looking for affordable rental or lease or because their current rent has gone up and they don't have the means to pay the new amount, or they have gone through very difficult circumstances, building their lives again and in need of a decent and affordable roof to move forward in their lives. Consequently, because they cannot find a decent rental, they end up doing what they do not want to do - go back to living with someone who was abusing them, or go back to live with their parents who harshly judge them and make them believe that they deserve it and that they are good for nothing, or move into a garage without sanitary facilities and without ventilation...
There are other situations that we who take many things for granted, do not understand well enough. For instance a woman who is living in poverty because her husband abused her and she had to leave home and live in a shelter with her children. You have to pay the lawyer amounts that eat away her social benefits and children's allowance. She must pay lease which she doesn't afford. She must take a lot of leave from work to attend court and other hearings. She ends up having to leave work or fired. She ends up having to abandon her old car because she doesn't have the money to fix it up. Relatives judge her rather than trying to understand the world of violence against women. A complicated situation that leads many to fall into depression.
THE INDIGNITIES THAT THE POOR FACES
The poor have to face many indignities as well. Indignity of the people who judge them and blame them. Indignity of having to beg and accept charity. Indignity of being at risk of not properly providing for their children. Indignity that, looking around and applying for jobs that fit their circumstances, still do not find employment. Indignity of worrying the whole time about what will happen to them in the state they're in. Indignity to go on to other organizations, services and meetings one after another for their needs to be assessed to be able to perhaps benefit from schemes and support services.
WHAT SHOULD WE DO TO HELP THE POOR
Firstly, we need to care about our brethren who are suffering in silence. We stop judging them and instead, we genuinely respect and love them. It's good to be more aware of what we think we know more about the poor than them themselves on what they need and how to live.
We must lend our hands to help. We cannot preach and stop there. When we lend our hands, we lend it after asking our suffering brethren what they need. If we do not ask them what they need, we end up imposing types of aid which does not help. Help should not be our agenda but it should be founded based on knowing what those in need require. We must nurture our children from a petty age not to judge and to feel for, and to guide, others. There are many things one can do. There are many groups in our parishes that we can join with to help our brothers and sisters in need - such as Diakonia Commissions. There are several voluntary organizations which we can volunteer with to help them in the services they offer.
In Malta we are fortunate to have many organizations working to alleviate the suffering of the poor. There are associations serving different categories of suffering individuals and families - battered women and their children; people with severe mental illness; people with disabilities; children and young people living in residential homes instead of their families; immigrants; people discharged from prison or are serving a prison sentence; people with drug addiction; homelessness; and so many other services. Recently, the Secretariat of the Diakonia of the Archbishop's Curia issued a directory of all services offered by organizations within the church.
We congratulate all those who want to perform hard work in aid of the poor and join others at local, district and national level to create a powerful movement of citizens who truly care for their brothers and sisters in difficulty.
FACTORS THAT PUSHES FAMILIES INTO POVERTY
We the workers at the Foundation meet with a large number of families that have either lived in poverty from one generation to another or are sliding into poverty due to difficult circumstances they are facing. There are a number of factors and reasons that, together, lead to a situation of poverty. We find these and many other cases that make individuals and families poor:
- low level of education and lack of basic skills;
- major difficulties of mental health, affecting the whole family;
- painful emotional and psychological effects of abuse since childhood in a chaotic household, leading the victim to be vulnerable and without stability;
- intake of, and dependence on drugs;
- gambling addiction that leads to large debts;
- domestic violence that renders mother and children without a roof and economically bankrupt;
- lack of long-term employment;
- a culture of dependency on social benefits;
- irregular employment paid less than the minimum;
- lack of family support that when crisis arises, leaves the person unable to live a decent life until they can get back on their feet;
- relatives caring for two or three family members with illness or disability or mental illness; there are those who would leave work to become a full-time carer;
- people who lost their job and cannot continue to pay the loan taken by the bank, and the bank possess their home; ..... and many other factors.
Nowadays, we have an insidious phenomenon that is affecting many families - the high price of uncontrolled rents. The Social Workers all tell you how difficult it has become to help poor families looking for affordable rental or lease or because their current rent has gone up and they don't have the means to pay the new amount, or they have gone through very difficult circumstances, building their lives again and in need of a decent and affordable roof to move forward in their lives. Consequently, because they cannot find a decent rental, they end up doing what they do not want to do - go back to living with someone who was abusing them, or go back to live with their parents who harshly judge them and make them believe that they deserve it and that they are good for nothing, or move into a garage without sanitary facilities and without ventilation...
There are other situations that we who take many things for granted, do not understand well enough. For instance a woman who is living in poverty because her husband abused her and she had to leave home and live in a shelter with her children. You have to pay the lawyer amounts that eat away her social benefits and children's allowance. She must pay lease which she doesn't afford. She must take a lot of leave from work to attend court and other hearings. She ends up having to leave work or fired. She ends up having to abandon her old car because she doesn't have the money to fix it up. Relatives judge her rather than trying to understand the world of violence against women. A complicated situation that leads many to fall into depression.
THE INDIGNITIES THAT THE POOR FACES
The poor have to face many indignities as well. Indignity of the people who judge them and blame them. Indignity of having to beg and accept charity. Indignity of being at risk of not properly providing for their children. Indignity that, looking around and applying for jobs that fit their circumstances, still do not find employment. Indignity of worrying the whole time about what will happen to them in the state they're in. Indignity to go on to other organizations, services and meetings one after another for their needs to be assessed to be able to perhaps benefit from schemes and support services.
WHAT SHOULD WE DO TO HELP THE POOR
Firstly, we need to care about our brethren who are suffering in silence. We stop judging them and instead, we genuinely respect and love them. It's good to be more aware of what we think we know more about the poor than them themselves on what they need and how to live.
We must lend our hands to help. We cannot preach and stop there. When we lend our hands, we lend it after asking our suffering brethren what they need. If we do not ask them what they need, we end up imposing types of aid which does not help. Help should not be our agenda but it should be founded based on knowing what those in need require. We must nurture our children from a petty age not to judge and to feel for, and to guide, others. There are many things one can do. There are many groups in our parishes that we can join with to help our brothers and sisters in need - such as Diakonia Commissions. There are several voluntary organizations which we can volunteer with to help them in the services they offer.
In Malta we are fortunate to have many organizations working to alleviate the suffering of the poor. There are associations serving different categories of suffering individuals and families - battered women and their children; people with severe mental illness; people with disabilities; children and young people living in residential homes instead of their families; immigrants; people discharged from prison or are serving a prison sentence; people with drug addiction; homelessness; and so many other services. Recently, the Secretariat of the Diakonia of the Archbishop's Curia issued a directory of all services offered by organizations within the church.
We congratulate all those who want to perform hard work in aid of the poor and join others at local, district and national level to create a powerful movement of citizens who truly care for their brothers and sisters in difficulty.