The Dar il-Hena foundation fed over 2,000 people between 2017 and 2020.

The foundation is a joint effort between The Ministry of Family and Social solidarity, Caritas Malta and the Alfred Mizzi Foundation. The foundation's aim is to combat homelessness.

It currently operates three shelters; Dar Maria Dolores which is an emergency night shelter for women; Dar Papa Frangisku which is an emergency night shelter for men and Reach Residential which is a long term residential shelter.

These three shelters provide meals and temporary accommodation for individuals while also providing a support system in order to help these people combat homelessness, Caritas director Anthony Gatt said.

"This is a unique model where the government and the private sector have come together for the benefit of society. While the government supports the funding of major projects in these shelters, the private sector represented by the Alfred Mizzi foundation takes care of the kitchens," Gatt said.

In 2017, 518 individuals were given meals; in 2018 there was a slight decrease to 493; in 2019 a record number of 585 people were given meals; in 2020 the number decreased and 515 people were given meals.

The average age of the people making use of the food service was 39 years and 4% of the food service users were children.

In response to the decrease of people receiving meals during the year of 2020, Gatt said that due to the pandemic, certain mitigation measures prohibited the foundation from providing the service to more people.

"We had to limit the number of people we could accept on our premises unfortunately. The pandemic also affected the night shelter service where certain rooms had to be changed into isolation rooms and the amount of people sleeping there drastically decreased," Gatt said.

Dar Papa Frangisku and Dar Maria Dolores offer emergency shelter during the night for homeless people. From 2017 till 2020, just over 1,000 people made use of this emergency shelter.

2018 and 2019 proved to be record years for people making use of this service (391 and 358 users respectively). A similarity with the food service was the drop during 2020 and as confirmed by Gatt, this was attributed to the effects of the pandemic.

An Alfred Mizzi foundation spokesperson said that "the past four to five years have seen important work done for the benefit of society. I am filled with great satisfaction knowing the positive impact that was made on the lives of so many."

Minister Michael Falzon said that this partnership has served as an experiment and has proven to be very successful in achieving its aims. "As an entity, the government is obliged to help tackle the social problems our country faces. Through this programme, we are not going to solve all the problems in someone's life, but we can make a small difference in a time of need."

Falzon expressed his gratitude towards the foundation for continuing to provide the service during the pandemic.