The Quezon City government has rolled out a financial assistance for 8,000 indigent persons with disabilities (PWDs) under its PWDs Social Welfare Assistance Program this year.
“The PWDs have been receiving limited aid from different government agencies. We came up with this program to help them with their family expenditures, especially nowadays that prices of basic commodities have been going up,” Mayor Joy Belmonte said.
The PDW Affairs Office said the city has initially enrolled 700 beneficiaries in the program granting a P1,500 quarterly subsidy to qualified indigent PWD QCitizens for one year.
Under City Ordinance 3115-2022, the program covers an indigent PWD not receiving any other financial assistance from the national government through the Government Service Insurance System, Social Security System or Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program; Rio N. Araja
It prioritizes the bedridden, PWDs with severe health conditions that seriously impair normal life, solo parent PWDs who struggle to provide for their children, a solo parent living with a child with disability, displaced PWD workers living alone and PWDs living with senior citizen parents.
Apart from the social welfare assistance, the city is providing educational assistance to children with disabilities to support their special education or vocational classes to receive P5,000 annually.
The city is also giving free mental health medicines at local health centers to those who need treatment for mental health conditions.
Hearing aids, wheelchairs, canes and other assistive devices are also distributed to PWDs residing in the city.