Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI), through its Alagang AyalaLand (AAL) program, has sustained its plan to help communities recover from the pandemic through livelihood opportunities in its developments.
In a statement, the firm said over 400 social enterprises (SEs) are now hosted and nurtured in its commercial properties as of October this year.
Through AAL, ALI is allocating rent-free spaces in its malls and estates to jumpstart the growth of SEs to support the country’s economic recovery.
Alagang AyalaLand was designed specifically to help local communities and small businesses affected by the pandemic through livelihood and job creation.
Its company-wide rollout entailed the mobilization of all ALI business units, and a large-scale implementation across its 32 malls nationwide.
“The program has been successful particularly in its objective of engaging and encouraging social enterprises to start or reopen their businesses to support livelihood and employment for the community,” said AAL Council Coordinator for Ayala Malls Jinky Aguinaldo.
She noted that, “At least 3,000 jobs were generated since we started the program in May. Our malls and developments have provided these social enterprises with direct access to customers, allowing them to promote their unique, locally-authentic products to a larger market."
Aguinaldo added that rent-free spaces were provided to SEs and various cooperatives across ALI developments.
“We work to assist and promote SEs because they support vulnerable communities in different parts of the country. This program aims to offer sustainable livelihood and long-term benefits for the community, as their products and services potentially become part of Ayala Land’s value chain,” she shared.
Through their work, hundreds of entrepreneurs have been encouraged to continue operations despite the challenging business environment.
The AAL program has allowed the SEs to bring their unique stories and messages of hope, their advocacies, and quality products to a wider audience.
Among the hundreds of social enterprises in Ayala Malls is a Zamboanga-based organic farm and soap-making business that focuses on elevating the status of women farmers while teaching people about the importance of an organic way of life.
Another one supports an Aeta community in Zambales by offering bamboo eco-products.
AAL has also provided a space for a foundation helping women from Balayan, Batangas learn how to use industrial sewing machines for the production of quality schoolbags.
Alagang AyalaLand is the company's community engagement program which focuses on generating livelihood and jobs through social enterprises, providing disaster relief to surrounding communities, and promoting a sustainable environment.