Help to find the ones in need! Every child matters!
In its main campaign for 2022 the Tartu University Hospital Children’s Foundation is calling people to notify them of children and young people who due to their illness or special needs are in need of help that is not compensated from public funds.
The main campaign of Children’s Foundation for this year “Help to find the ones in need” is aimed at finding people who need help. Being in contact daily with families that are raising children who are ill or have special needs, we know how difficult it is to ask for help and we hear quite often that families do not dare to do so, because they think someone else is in even greater trouble. It is sometimes thought that applying for help is very difficult and families simply cannot manage it. It is quite common to think that only those whose income is below the established subsistence level receive help.
“We tried to cope on our own somehow, because the Children’s Foundation cannot help everyone- those for whom it is a matter of life and death, need help first.”
“We do not dare to ask for help getting our child a helping device, because people would think we are beggars. The municipality already sent us to apply for subsistence allowance, but we do not need money for food or to pay for living costs.”
“The Children’s Foundation is already helping a lot of people. You cannot help everyone!”
“We have never had to ask anything from anyone. It is very difficult to ask for help!”
“If my child does not have special needs then no one is able to help them!”
“I guess we do not qualify for help if our family’s income is higher than the subsistence minimum? I don’t know how we are able to gather the 6000 euros we need.”
“Could we postpone my child’s operation abroad until we can save up money for the trip?”
These are only some of the reasons why people do not dare to ask for help.
The Children’s Foundation’s message to the public is: the helper needs to find the ones in need of help rather than the one who needs help having to run from door to door with a stack of papers under their arm. The best way to spread the message is to set an example.
According to the supporting manager of the Children’s Foundation, Evelin Ilves, a family does not have to be low income or have to verify their daily expenses with receipts, in order to get help. “There is no need to prove to us that big expenses and a remarkable amount of caretaking are a part of your child’s illness. We also know that even if the parent who is raising an ill child returns to work only part- time, they are often left without carer’s allowance. It is very unjust and pushes the parents of special needs or ill children out from society.”
The Children’s Foundation pays the expenses directly to the service provider and the parent does not have to worry about those expenses or expense documents.
Every year the Children’s Foundation helps more than 500 children who have different special needs, but we know that there are actually a lot more children who are in need of help.
We can see that even with a very small team we are able to help a lot of people all over Estonia who need help with different treatments and treatment conditions. We say in our campaign that we have already found Kirsili, Kelli, Edrian, Oliver, Kaspar and a lot of others in need of help, but we know that there are hundreds and hundreds of other children we could help. The least we can do for these brave families is to take the burden of paying for their child’s treatment or care off their shoulders. We think that no child should have their treatment or care be hindered by financial problems. If your, your friend’s, your relative’s or even your neighbour’s family is in this sort of situation, then do not hesitate to contact the Children’s Foundation. We are here to help! Contac us at www.lastefond.ee
Thank you for helping us to help others! EVERY CHILD MATTERS!