DORAS, the migrant and refugee support organisation based in Limerick, have been providing aid to up to 50 migrant and refugee families in the city and county under a new scheme designed to help fight food poverty.
This comes in the face of rising rates of food poverty in migrants and refugees that the organisation describes as “shocking”.
“Quite a few families are in need. The ones that we are working with specifically are from refugee or migrant backgrounds, caught in a trap of poverty and homelessness and other several levels of deprivation where they can’t afford to put adequate food on the table,” explained John Lannon, CEO of Doras.
To help stem the tide of food poverty, Doras has been operating a food provision scheme to help migrant and refugee families in need.
Food Provision Scheme for Children and Young to Tackle Holiday Hunger 2022 is a campaign run by Doras, with the help of the Children’s Rights Alliance and Enterprise Rent a Car, that sees the organisation deliver thousands of euros worth of food vouchers to families in need nationwide, as well as direct supplies of fresh fruit and vegetables.
According to Mr Lannon, up to 50 families in Limerick have been supported by the scheme so far.
The Doras CEO believes a “cross-sectoral response” is urgently needed as their summer initiative is only a short-term solution, explaining that up to a quarter of the families supported by Doras are experiencing homelessness and facing the realities of poverty.
“We feel there’s a range of factors contributing to deprivation and to the exclusion of marginalised people, particularly from migrant backgrounds. It’s difficult for them to get access to decent work. They’re quite adversely affected by the homelessness crisis”.
