A 53-year-old man worked until his mother became dependent on care, then he lost his job. Although state support secured a living, it was not enough to replace the worn-out clothing. Thanks to donations for the SZ Advent calendar that the social community center gave him, he was able to get a replacement.
Another example shows how important such voluntary services are: A single mother who had fled to a women’s shelter with her four children from her violent partner was able to move into a new apartment, but her money was just enough for the basic equipment. Thanks to donations she received from the Advent calendar through the social community center, she was able to create a comfortable home for the children.
The twelve social community centers are among the most important contact points in the city for people who are in need; be it because they are threatened with losing their home, are in financial difficulties, cannot cope with their children, are suffering from relationship problems or need support in caring for relatives. The district social workers looked after more than 18,000 Munich households last year, know their problems exactly, organize help and relief – and are therefore one of the largest partners among the more than 200 associations, social services and projects with which the SZ Advent Calendar in Munich and the region works together.
“The cooperation with the SZ Advent calendar for good works is a great opportunity for us as a social department to support people with low incomes in our city,” says social officer Dorothee Schiwy. “I am therefore very grateful that the readers of the SZ help us with their generous donations every year.” Poverty in a big city manifests itself in many facets, be it difficult living situations, health problems or children who are repeatedly disappointed in their long-held wishes.
In 2023, around 7,600 households received child and youth welfare services through the social community centers. In 5,000 households the focus was on child protection tasks, and in a further 5,000 households adults needed support with specific issues. And in 1,000 households it was about the well-being of adults – predominantly older people – being at risk. “We live in a welfare state in which people are fundamentally protected from existential hardship,” explains Schiwy. “Especially in an expensive city like Munich, we see again and again that the state support options are not sufficient for necessary expenses and real participation.”
With their donations, SZ readers “set an impressive example of interpersonal solidarity every year,” says Andrea Betz, board spokeswoman for Diakonie Munich and Upper Bavaria. The shopping vouchers can be used to “support low-income families, pensioners or homeless people who often have to turn over every euro individually”.
People who find themselves in financial distress due to poverty in old age or illness often see themselves as supplicants, says Betz. “I think this is a shameful situation in a Germany that has enshrined the welfare state principle in the constitution.” Because the welfare state is obliged to ensure social security and the economic subsistence level. Betz affirms: “Actually, no one should be dependent on donations for their existence.”
Not only individual help, but many offers such as leisure activities, hot meals for people in need, mobile workshops, student tutoring or meeting cafés would not exist without the Advent calendar. “The support is invaluable to us,” says Hermann Sollfrank, chairman of the Caritas Association of the Archdiocese of Munich and Freising. It makes it possible to “help people in emergency situations immediately and unbureaucratically, for example to buy a new washing machine or winter clothes for the children.”
Many offers that give people in need stability, a ray of hope and confidence would not exist without donations, as there is no public funding for them. Sollfrank says: “No social service is 100 percent refinanced by the state, some are not financed by the state at all. That’s why we rely on donations for our social work.” Sollfrank would like to extend a “big thank you” and a “heartfelt thank you” to the readers; the commitment shows great solidarity with people affected by poverty.
“Thanks to the donations, we can provide individual assistance quickly and unbureaucratically wherever our colleagues on site recognize the need,” says Karin Majewski, managing director of the Paritätischen Wohlfahrtsverband Oberbayern. These are often very tangible and urgently needed things, but sometimes also about experiences that give joy or alleviate worries, such as a trip with the family. It is sad for a country as rich as Germany when pensioners have to save money on food or recipients of civil benefit are excluded from participation.
The Joint Association is calling for a significantly higher standard citizen’s benefit rate
“Unfortunately, the levels of our basic security benefits are still not poverty-proof,” criticizes Majewski. Based on reports, the Joint Association is calling for a standard citizen’s benefit rate of 813 euros per month, instead of the current 563 euros. “As long as the state social security systems unfortunately do not do what they should, we are extremely pleased that the SZ Advent Calendar and other foundations are filling a hole that should not exist in a good welfare state.”
“If political sentiment is fueled that social benefits are being obtained by fraud or are being wrongly received by refusing to work, it is all the more important to report on personal stories of hardship,” said the managing directors of the Munich Workers’ Welfare Association, Julia Sterzer and Hans Kopp. For example, about the poor pensioner who lives on basic income and cannot afford a visit to a café or hairdresser in expensive Munich. Or single mothers and fathers who can only work part-time and therefore need subsidies for special purchases.
Since its beginnings, the Workers’ Welfare Association has attached great importance to ensuring that social needs are accompanied by legal rights. However, Sterzer and Kopp believe that social coexistence in society is largely supported by the solidarity of many people: “This is, so to speak, civil society’s choice of the social state’s duty.” The Advent calendar promotes empathy and has long motivated urban society to alleviate social hardship. Both managing directors thank the Advent calendar for “mobilizing the social bonding forces”: “It is the beacon of solidarity in civil society in Munich.”