In 15 years of accounting and publication of the Social Report, Unaerp has more than 6.5 million services, especially to the low-income population. The Institution's philanthropic vocation keeps it at the forefront of service provision through outreach projects, health, education, guidance and social assistance programs, promoting actions that benefit the population. In 2019, Unaerp Service Network, which brings together more than 50 activities, totaled 551 thousand services to the community through social projects and health services.

These results allow the University to celebrate, on this 20th, the National Philanthropy Day loud and clear. The date aims to promote appreciation and generate clarification about the philanthropic sector, vital to Brazilian society, as it serves more than 160 million people per year in the country. Of this contingent, Unaerp served, last year, 143 thousand citizens. Student Fernanda Toledo Bicaletto says that the experience at the Psychology Clinic-school is very rewarding. “We mainly reach this population that is generally unable to pay and I think it's nice to know that Unaerp has this exchange, we assist for free and students learn, so everyone wins.”

Unaerp is one of the first private Brazilian universities to be based on an educational project linked to the community. Since its founding in 1924, the Ribeirão Preto Education Association (AERP), the sponsor of Unaerp, has proposed to interact with its surroundings. This ideal was formally institutionalized in the process of recognition as a University in 1985.

Students working in social projects, clinics, laboratories and the Unaerp hospital feel fulfilled with the assistance they provide to the community. “Here at the Physiotherapy Clinic, we are able to offer continuous care to patients every week, often twice a week, seeing improvement. You end up entering the family, the patient's life, they expose a lot, so you really feel part of that person's life”, says Lorena Lataro Bernardes da Silva, student at the 7th period of Physiotherapy undergraduate program.

AERP / UNAERP promotes, above all, the dissemination of knowledge through education and contribution to the improvement of health and social inclusion. It is also responsible for the education of thousands of people seeking their academic and professional training. The social actions undertaken by the University of Ribeirão Preto, under the support of its sponsor, on the headquarters campus in Ribeirão Preto and on the Guarujá campus, direct investments in a scholarship program, which are another aspect of institutional philanthropic actions.

Scholarship program assists more than 3,000 students
In total, Unaerp maintains 3,126 students with its own scholarships and under government agreements. In one of them, the PBEST - AERP Social Scholarship Program, in 2019, 498 undergraduate and technical level scholarships were awarded. Willian Souza Mendes Ferreira, a Physical Education student at the headquarters campus in Ribeirão Preto, is one of the PBEST fellows. For him, having a scholarship at a university like Unaerp is “having access to knowledge and opening up new possibilities to the job market”.

Also a fellow, but in the scholarship-athlete category, Kaue M. dos Santos Dias is part of the swimming team, studying Physical Education at Unaerp Guarujá and says that the scholarship was one of the most important things in his life. “With it, I have the opportunity to continue my dream as an athlete and the main thing, to grow as a person and professionally. I am grateful for the opportunity to be a scholarship student at Unaerp”, he says.

This set of conducts, combined with market demands, equals the Institution's social and economic performance. For maintainer AERP, social performance is more than a management strategy: it is a commitment to society, and more directly, to the community that is around it.

National Forum of Philanthropic Institutions (FONIF)
The FONIF - National Forum of Philanthropic Institutions, an entity that brings together the philanthropy sector and that has achieved the establishment of the National Philanthropy Day, has the institutional objective of strengthening and defending the interests of philanthropic entities working in Brazil in the areas of health, education and social assistance. Established legally in 2015, FONIF was founded from the meeting of 40 supporters of the most important and recognized institutions in the country, who came together to discuss the direction of the sector and the alternatives to guarantee the rights and the full functioning of these entities. More information about FONIF can be obtained on the website: www.fonif.org.br


Fernanda Toledo Bicaletto: "We assist for free and students learn, so everyone wins”


Lorena Lataro Bernardes da Silva: “Here at the physiotherapy clinic, we are able to offer continuous care to patients every week, so you really feel part of that person's life”