More than 502 million euros distributed in 214 calls over 25 years. This is the balance of a quarter-century trajectory of the Social Projects Calls of the La Caixa Foundation, which have promoted a total of 23,518 projects by social entities nationwide, with 5,428 projects and 126 million euros in Catalonia.
In total, the projects promoted have served more than ten million people in Spain ---2.9 million of them in Catalonia---, in initiatives aimed at promoting equal opportunities and improving the quality of life of people in vulnerable situations.
The calls over these 25 years have reached up to 8,446 social entities, in an initiative that seeks to collaborate with the third sector to improve the care of vulnerable groups. The projects have been developed in 1,640 municipalities distributed throughout all Spanish provinces, with 275 Catalan municipalities.
Furthermore, of the 30,000 social entities operating in Spain, 80% have applied at some point to the foundation's calls. Of those selected since 1999, 66% have been associations, while 20% have been foundations, and the rest have been groups and entities belonging to the social ecosystem and the religious sphere.
The projects framed within the program have been structured around three areas of action: comprehensive socio-health support, community social action to promote social cohesion, and support and accompaniment for people in situations or at risk of poverty, or in the process of social inclusion.
In addition to being structured around these three axes, the calls have also taken into account initiatives aimed at fostering personal autonomy for older people and people with disabilities, as well as psychosocial support.
To celebrate these 25 years, the foundation gathered representatives of entities from Catalonia at CaixaForum linked to the program. The meeting, which was attended by the deputy managing director of the foundation, Joan Ramon Fuertes, and the deputy general director, Marc Simón, included interventions by representatives of the Associació Casal dels Infants, the Associació Prosec Promotora Social, the Fundació Prodis and the Fundació Marianao. "The La Caixa Foundation has always been characterized by its social commitment and its vocation to work alongside social entities," Fuertes stated.
The trajectory of the foundation's social project calls began in 1999, then with a welfare approach that has evolved over the years to adapt to the activity of the entities. Following this line, the 2024 call focuses on addressing the demographic challenge by promoting initiatives against rural depopulation, and the program has urgently activated a new call aimed at social entities working on the consequences of the DANA. These calls complement the foundation's own lines of action in the social sphere, which are guided by the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda.