Lisboa Para Pessoas was born from scratch in 2021. To continue, it needs a sustainability base of 10 thousand €. This amount ensures the project until the end of the year, with the promise of finding other sources of funding until then.
Because I believe that a changing city needs a media outlet and a forum for reflection to prepare it for that change. And because my dedication testifies what moves me to do it: the love for the city; I decided to create this campaign so that I can finally live from what I do, Lisboa Para Pessoas - a portal dedicated to the city of Lisbon that, in its first year of life, published more than 500 articles and 50 guides, and had about half a million readers.
My name is Mário Rui André, I'm 28 years old and I live in Lisbon - still at home with my parents. I am a journalist, founder of Lisboa Para Pessoas, photographer, community manager. In short, I do a little bit of everything to give life to this project, convinced of its importanceand, therefore, it can be said that, at this moment, Lisboa Para Pessoas is me. It is me with many ideas and ambitions for a bigger and more professional project. I work almost every day but, because of the youth of the project, I still pay to work. I have a salary below the National Minimum Wage - it is called IAS (≈440€) - but that salary usually exists only on paper; even if I don't take it out for myself, I pay every month Social Security contributions as if I were receiving the whole salary.
In Lisboa Para Pessoas, you will be told Stories and criticism about the city, organized Guides useful for those who want to live Lisbon in a different way, aggregated data and documentation that should be accessible in the Libraryand all of this is done in conjunction with a Community dynamic and motivated. I write the texts, research information, take the photographs, manage the messages and communications with people, edit the guides, organize the documentation, but my resilience, like that of others who have taken on the same challenge, is not infinite. Lisbon has lost good projects in the past and can't afford to lose another one. That's why this campaign is underpinned by a very raw truth: I need money so I can keep doing Lisboa Para Pessoas. And nothing would make more sense than to start asking for this support from those who follow the project and make daily profits from it.
I aim for 10 thousand euros in this campaign, which would allow us to secure Lisboa Para Pessoas until the end of 2022, with the commitment not to stand still and look for more funding opportunities and new business models. This crowdfunding is not the beginning, because over a year we have already proven to be a solid value in the media landscape in the city of Lisbon, but it is a unique opportunity to create stability for the project to take the leap. It assures my dedication to this platform, my commitment to make it grow and especially the idea that among ordinary people it is possible to create disruptive projects that contribute positively to the public space.
