When Tomislav Miklos’s wife lost her job at a catering company two weeks ago, he had no choice but to approach his landlord.

“I asked if I could pay the €750 rent in two instalments. Of course, I told him, it was because we were struggling to get through the month on one wage.”

The landlord surprised Miklos by putting the rent down to €400 for now.

“Hope this measure can help you,” he wrote.

Miklos was moved. His landlord and his wife had always been helpful but this concession was unexpected.

He is one of the many foreign workers who now find themselves on the brink due to the profound disruptions caused by the COVID-19 crisis.

He said he understood the fear behind the Economy Minister’s statement that “charity should start at home” – but Malta was now his home too.

So he was reaching out to Maltese and foreigners in the community to offer whatever help he could. Some people, he said, were in a worse situation than his.

“Whatever it is, deliveries, volunteering, at this time we all need to be as helpful as possible.”

Family of five struggle

For Belinda-Lee Elford, a mother of three, the situation is even harder.

With no one to take care of her children now that schools are closed, her husband resigned from his job to stay at home with them.

“His job is in a hotel and so is more precarious than mine, which is in logistics,” she explained.

Still, her salary does not cover the bills and rent. And she has used her meagre savings to stock up on food.

“The kids are at home so they eat more. It costs more to entertain them. We are seriously going to struggle to support the five of us on an almost minimum wage,” she said.

There was no help for third-country nationals and she had absolutely no idea what to do, she said, hoping for a solution soon.