Unfortunate Circumstances

This week and last have been somewhat distressing for me, not because of anything directly related to me, but because I am beginning to become quite attached to the firm and the people who work there, and it distresses me to see them struggle.
First, Paolo, one of my bosses, broke his leg on a skiing trip, so he was out of work for a few days. He finally came back at the end of last week, but he has to waddle around on crutches :(
The same day Paolo came back, one of my new friends, Flavia, found out that she is switching firms. It happened very suddenly. She was literally offered the new position the afternoon of the interview, and she accepted it the next day. She didn't leave because she was unhappy; she left because AKA wasn't able to pay her, and this one was. She told me that she had been getting money through the state, rather than an actual salary from the firm, and it wasn't very much (400 Euros/month). Therefore, she didn't really have a choice. All she could do was hope that she liked the firm as much as she liked AKA. I said goodbye to her on Friday.
Just today, I found out that another one of my friends, Elena, is going through similar problems. Instead of going to our regular place for lunch, we went to the MACRO. We wanted to go up the giant bamboo sculpture for lunch, but the real reason we were there was so that Elena could apply for the same state funding that Flavia was living off of. Elena is an intern, like me. Interns usually aren't paid, especially when it is their first job. However, AKA has been paying Elena 500 Euros for the last two or three months. This month, they stopped, and the most she can get from the state is 400 Euros/ month. In addition, she has to go through the application process to even get the funds, which she says can take at least a few months. She loves is at AKA, but she has been searching for other jobs, hoping for one that will pay her, to no avail. She says that she has been living at home, so she doesn't need to worry about rent or food, but she's in a really tough position. I asked her why she doesn't just tell AKA about her situation, but she said that she has too much pride to seem like she is asking them for money. I think it's so sad. I don't want her to leave because she is so nice to me. It took them ages just to explain the situation to me because my Italian is pretty bad, but they did it anyways.