It is midday. The doorbell at Dar Papa Franġisku starts ringing every couple of minutes. Each time it is someone hungry, turning up for the free lunch offered daily at the Birkirkara soup kitchen, which serves an average of 50 lunches daily.

Several third-country nationals are covered in dust and paint, clearly on their work break, as they queue for their helping: it’s soup today. Yesterday it was pizza, and the previous days it was grilled chicken and baked pasta.

Other diners include elderly men who want some company during lunchtime, a woman with a drug addiction who has no money for food, and a clean-shaven polite young man in casual clothes who is very suspicious of the cameraman in the area until he is assured that faces will not be identified.

Then there is Alan (not his real name) who is happy to talk about his story anonymously. He moves away from the others, into a nearby living room, as he recounts how he once lived with his wife and children.

Today, after separating from his wife, he is homeless. Financial problems engulfed him, and, during a desperate moment, he resorted to theft – and ended up in jail for 18 months. He lost his job.

He has nothing – no support structure, no money, no home.

“Thank God for the people here,” he says.

Alan is one of the men who are currently sleeping at Dar Papa Franġisku, which also offers a men’s emergency shelter service apart from the soup kitchen that is open for men and women at lunchtime. Women who need a temporary place to sleep can go to Dar Maria Dolores a few doors down the road.

At both shelters, social workers support residents to pick up the pieces during their stay.

Marica Aquilina, head of Dar Papa Franġisku, explains that residents who sleep there – there are 22 beds – can stay up to six weeks. Each morning, they have to get out of the home by 9am and can return for lunch – served between noon and 2.30pm – and then at 6pm when doors open for dinner and for those who sleep there. The home also allows visitors to shower and wash their clothes.

Ian Galea, manager at the Fondazzjoni Dar il-Hena that runs the homes, explains that the majority of overnight residents, about 70%, are migrants. As for those who go for the free lunch, many have a roof above their head but have other issues that range from mental health problems, addictions, marital breakdown – all issues that result in them struggling to make ends meet. These people can’t afford food.

At both shelters, social workers support residents to pick up the pieces during their stay.

A recent study commissioned by Caritas showed that the cost of food for low-income families has risen by up to 50% over the past four years with families with children barely earning enough money to cover basic life expenses.

Julian Sammut, chairperson of the Alfred Mizzi Foundation, explained how Dar Papa Franġisku – Malta’s first soup kitchen – opened its doors in 2016 and was born following an initiative to mark the 100th anniversary since the foundation of the Alf. Mizzi & Sons company that deals in food imports.

Next month, The Alfred Mizzi Foundation will mark its 20th anniversary.

“We wanted to create a place where people can eat with dignity,” he says, adding that the foundation – that provides the ingredients for the meals – initially teamed up with Caritas to run the operations. The government then joined – which led to the setting up of Fondazzjoni Dar il-Hena that today runs two shelters: Dar Papa Franġisku for men and Dar Maria Dolores for women – and a long-term shelter called Reach.

Anyone who wishes to support the shelters can do so by donating new shoes, jackets, toiletries and luggage or by volunteering to help with food preparation and serving.

For more information contact 7702 6644 or 2788 8211.