Chile: Cáritas installed a community laundry for those affected by fires

More than four months after the megafire that seriously affected the central region of Chile, Cáritas remains attentive to the needs of local communities. Within this framework, a community laundry was installed so that it can be used by families who do not yet have access to water and electricity networks.

The community laundry is the result of joint work between Cáritas Chile, Cáritas Valparaíso, the Municipality of Viña del Mar and various organizations and neighborhood boards, and will allow collaboration with the families that live in the neighborhood called El Olivar.

Installed in Tamarugal, where different municipal services are offered, the laundry had the support of Christel Wasiek and the Heliand Catholic Women’s Association, from Germany.

Thanks to their contribution, six washing machines and six dryers could be installed, while the Municipality’s contribution was essential to provide a safe electrical installation and manage the necessary containers.

In this way, the service will be able to facilitate the reality of the families who live in six neighborhood associations of El Olivar, who lost their homes.

In addition to the laundry itself, the place has a section for receiving clothes and a care room equipped for children who accompany their parents.

Al introduce laundry, the director of Community Development of the Municipality, Camila Estay, thanked the contribution of Cáritas and the women who “from Germany have expressed their concern and concrete solidarity towards the women and families who suffered great losses in Viña del Mar and in other communes of the Valparaíso Region”.

The director of Cáritas Valparaíso, Leonardo Córdova, highlighted that “in addition to the laundry, the contribution of the Heliand Catholic Women’s Association has made it possible to finance, together with funds raised by the solidarity campaign carried out by Cáritas Chile, a emergency for the operation of a common pot, in charge of the Florecer de Los Almendros Neighborhood Council”, an action that adds to the recovery tasks that have been carried out after the tragic fire.

Lorenzo Figueroa, director of Cáritas Chile, thanked the municipality, social organizations and international organizations for the work that allowed this work.

As a final message, he called to “continue promoting the care of communities, ecosystems and risk management throughout its cycle, both in humanitarian response and prevention.”