Amsterdam launches "offensive" against Covid poverty, debts

The city of Amsterdam pushed 11.8 million euros into a "coronavirus offensive" to help its residents who lost their job, business, home or income during the coronavirus pandemic. "The starting point is that we offer all Amsterdammers the perspective for a better future," alderman Marjolein Moorman said in a letter to the city council on Monday, ANP reports.

The national government contributed 5.45 million euros to this offensive, the rest comes from the municipal coronavirus support package. The goal of the offensive is to combat poverty and prevent debt.

The city will hire more social counselors, to help households with starting money problems. It will also help the 2,200 to 3 thousand "economically homeless" people in Amsterdam - self-reliant people who lost their homes during the crisis and cannot afford new accommodation.

Amsterdam will also pay for internet access or a computer for children who have to follow distance education and whose families can't afford these necessities. In addition to the food banks, the city is also pushing money into an extra food plan. And there will be help for affected entrepreneurs, Moorman said.