“Where will these children go ? Where will the patients with multiple severe disabilities find care and treatment if the charity foundations will close down?” Dozens of Greek charities send an S.O.S. appeal to the world as underfunding and high taxes threaten to close them down. Charity foundations that provide care to hundreds of people with severe disabilities, children with cerebral palsy, or they simply host and educate people from infants to 35 years old.
Daily Ta Nea reported on Monday, that dozens of workers have been left unpaid for months, while board members are often taken to court due to foundation debts to tax office and the social security.
“Those in care will be left without help. There is no place where they can go, because the state has not similar care units and infrastructure, foundation managers told the daily.
Personnel and patients of Athens Hospice launched a protest near PM’s office on Tuesday to protest the possible closure. Personnel has not been paid for the last 8 months. Athens Hospice was founded 100 years ago.
Characteristic about the patients in such charity foundations are the numbers: Athens Hospice Foundation hosts 210 patients with severe neurological disabilities, the Nursing Home Foundation in Kallithea suburb of Athens houses 29 children, Hatzipaterio Foundation hosts 100 children with cerebral palsy, while the Theotokos Foundation provides training to 370 children and young people with mental disabilities, aged from 2.5 to 35 years old.
PS I don’t want to comment on this because it would sound very “Troika-cynical”.
These are the ultimate and ugly consequences of the categorical refusal by the Greek political system of prioritizing anything that has to do with austerity. 6 years into this crisis there still is no coordinated plan. No view or strategy for the future. Just running from incident to incident.
Yes all kinds of cutbacks still are necessary. And yes, there are charities that are just used as tricks to dodge taxes (the Church comes to mind…). But a lot of these charity foundations perform vital functions, but are now being strangled to death (like a large part of the small private companies) for sake of the status quo and privileges of large portions of the (semi-)public sector.
If you want to be “Troika-cynical”, be cynical about their failure of forcing the Greek nomenklatura into REAL reforms…
I cant imagine charities not being tax exempt is the red cross operating in Greece at this time probably not if they have to pay taxes.