At a time in which the country is facing the challenge of the impact of the natural disasters that have recently affected the entire territory, Caritas Portugal is celebrating its “National Week” until Sunday, March 8th, “to recall that its mission goes beyond responding to emergencies”. The highlight of the event is the “Nationwide Fundraising Campaign”, aimed “to call on the Portuguese people’s solidarity in the streets and on the web, to strengthen Caritas Portugal’s response to those people who are in the most vulnerable positions”, the organisation mentions in a notice. The weekly agenda includes the presentation of the third “Annual Poverty and Social Exclusion Report”, due to take place in the Atmosfera M. building in Lisbon on Wednesday March 4th at 10.00am. The report – the Lusitanian Caritas announced – has been prompted by “an analysis of the official statistics according to which, even though some indicators have improved, a higher number of problems have come to the fore in connection with situations of socioeconomic exclusion, such as the number of homeless people which has more than doubled from 2019 to 2024”. Inspired by the motto “The love that transforms”, the National Caritas Week intends to “give visibility to the work that Caritas does in a context that is marked by emergencies: the rising cost of living, unemployment, low incomes, and the increasing cost of housing and healthcare are still the main factors of vulnerability for families in Portugal, which goes to show how important Caritas’s work is”.