This initiative consists of the creation of a Portal that aims at the national mobilization for voluntary work in institutions that support the elderly, in order to supply needs arising from the pandemic of COVID-19. Through this portal it is possible to identify volunteers with a different profile, who can support the response to the diverse needs that have arisen in organizations that promote social responses to vulnerable people, in particular the elderly.
The needs are identified by public structures, central or local, by the entities representing the social economy sector or directly by the organizations responsible for the management of equipment or social responses for the elderly people. CASES mediates between volunteers and identified needs, making contacts available to organizations that want to contact directly the volunteers.
It should be noted that the Institutions protect volunteers as a member of their own teams and that volunteers are always free to accept or not to integrate the actions proposed to them.

With the evolution of Covid-19 cases in Portugal, nursing homes and social responses for the elderly demanded special attention, because of the users vulnerability profile and the need to support work teams that would have to be reinforced in order to ensure the actions provided for in the Contingency Plans and compliance with the guidelines of the General Directorate of Health of Portugal, imposing a specific intervention.
This initiative was created to respond to this need, by attracting volunteers to reinforce work teams and, as such, by supporting the elderly in social responses, during the challenge that is COVID-19, allowing, in this way, to complement the safeguard and the safety of users and workers of residential structures.

CASES – Cooperativa António Sérgio para a Economia Social, CIPRL;
Ministério do Trabalho, Solidariedade e Segurança Social
Turismo de Portugal, IP; RTP – Rádio Televisão Portuguesa
Instituto da Segurança Social; Instituto do Emprego e Formação Profissional

The call "Let's take care of those who have already taken care of us", was heard and thousands of people were available to give their support. However, from the execution of the project, it appears that not all the people who volunteered will be effectively mobilized to support it, whether due to the lack of coincidence of the profile, disponibility or residential area in relation to the needs, or because the activities for which they were available may not be the most wanted. This situation could lead to the lack of interest and withdrawal of volunteers, with impacts on upcoming volunteer campaigns. For better monitoring, questionnaires are being applied, both to volunteers and to organizations to which volunteers had been identified, with a view to both aspects: assess whether volunteers are being effectively included in the volunteering actions and identify the entities that integrated them; and maintaining contact with the volunteers in order to mitigate any lake of motivation.