Similarly, the Santa Casa da Misericórdia was established in 1535, to serve the elderly and provide healthcare for the local residents.

Tristão Vaz Teixeira Bettencourt da Câmara, was granted the title of Baron of Jardim do Mar: his was a proprietor and later the director of the Diário de Notícias in Funchal.

Agriculture and the fishery provides the primary sources of income in this area, although minor commercial establishments are concentrated in the principal village in the municipality.

Of these, for example, the factory/ironworks used for conversion of honey into aguardente, a distilled spirit common in the village of Calheta and the fireworks buildings in the Lombo do Doutor were integral businesses in the municipalities development.

In the parish of Ponta do Pargo, Maria Amélia de Sousa, provided educational instruction, at the primary level, for many of the children of the western coast of Calheta, lasting 70 years.

The municipal council has also been active in providing ancillary services to support the community, through the remodelling of many playgrounds (two of which include official football fields, in Prazeres and Paul do Mar) and a swimming pool by the EBSC.