The president of the Parliament of Navarra, Unai Hualde, held a meeting this Wednesday in his official office with the director of the Goizargi association, Rakel Mateo, accompanied by Sara Ancín and Amaya Villanueva, responsible for awareness and social impact and associative development, respectively.
During the meeting, the representatives of Goizargi presented to Hualde the history and development of the entity, which in 2027 will reach 25 years of providing support to people in mourning in a "close, healthy, and adaptive" manner, and promoting that citizens understand mourning as a natural process integrated into the life cycle.
According to a note from the Parliament of Navarra, what began as a small associative initiative has undergone a profound evolution in recent years, becoming a team made up of 13 professionals, of whom eight are directly dedicated to the care of people in mourning.
The spokespersons of the association explained to Hualde that the recent increase in requests has forced them to set limits on care, in order to avoid overloading the team and ensure quality intervention. As a result, some people seeking support must wait several weeks to access a first appointment, which represents a modification of the model of immediate reception that had traditionally characterized Goizargi.
They emphasized that this delay is not due to a lack of commitment, but to the need to safeguard both the users and the professional staff, since "maintaining an excessive care load would jeopardize the quality of support and the well-being of those who work daily attending to situations of great emotional impact."
In the economic sphere, they highlighted the consequences of the organization's growth. The recent move to a new headquarters has allowed for more suitable spaces for individual and group care, in addition to enhancing awareness actions and associative development. However, the rent expense has nearly doubled, rising from about 15,000 euros annually to nearly 29,000 euros, which has significantly increased the financial pressure on the entity.
In this line, they have pointed out that part of the activity is sustained "thanks to the effort accumulated over the years and to a very tight management of resources," although they have warned that this scenario cannot be maintained indefinitely. The association sees it as essential to increase funding to cover the cost of the new headquarters and to strengthen the professional team, especially in the areas of direct attention and awareness-raising. They have emphasized that any financial contribution will immediately translate into better support for people in mourning and into the strengthening of a social resource that they consider key for the Navarrese citizenry.
For his part, the president of the Parliament, Unai Hualde, has expressed his willingness to propose to the parliamentary groups the organization of a visit to the Goizargi facilities, with the aim of directly understanding the work that the association does and the needs and requests it faces. Likewise, Hualde has suggested that the regional chamber could host some training activity or awareness-raising day conducted by Goizargi.