Municipal social services ramp up operations and aid

Municipal social services have been bolstered since the state of emergency was declared, the goal being to tackle the Covid-19 crisis and protect the most vulnerable groups. Compared to last month, financial aid is up by 158%, extra accommodation has been set up for the homeless and the number of daily meals served increased.

24/04/2020 18:00 h

Ajuntament de Barcelona

 

More accommodation for the homeless

A further 714 places for homeless people have been added to the 2,200 already available in the city, to help deal with the situation created by the coronavirus:

  • Hall A at Fira de Barcelona, managed by Creu Roja, with a capacity for 225 people.
  • Hall B at Fira de Barcelona, managed by Fundació Salut i Comunitat, with a capacity for 225 people.
  • The Dos de Maig facility, managed by Progess, with a capacity for 59 women.
  • The former Institut Pere Calafell, managed by Creu Roja, with a capacity for 58 people.
  • A facility managed by Sant Joan de Déu for people with Covid-19 symptoms.
  • A facility with 75 places at the Fundació Pere Tarrés, managed by the Public Health Agency and ABD, for people with alcoholism or other active addictions.
  • A facility in a summer camp hostel in Montgat, managed by Superacció, with a capacity for 42 young people.

Three special points have also been set up to provide food and showers, with a capacity to meet the hygiene needs of 160 people a day, and the city’s three primary shelters are now operating 24 hours a day.

Guaranteeing food to respond to the social emergency

During the first month the volume of meals provided increased by 146%, rising from 3,810 meals a day to 9,389. Of these:

  • 2,156 are served by soup kitchens.
  • 1,690 are packed lunches.
  • 5,543 are delivered to people at home.

Support from social services centres

The nine social services centres are still open during the lockdown for Covid-19. During this time they have attended to users in person on 447 occasions and by phone on 9,499 occasions. The rest of the professionals working for the service are doing so from home, enabling support for a total of 27,000 people. An estimated 20% of these had never approached social services before or had not done so for at least a year.

In terms of financial aid, social services centres have handled 5,554 grants to cover people’s basic needs, with an overall value of 1.8 million euros. This equates to a 158% increase in aid compared to before the state for emergency for Covid-19.

Elderly people, one of the most vulnerable groups

The Home Assistance Service (SAD) continues to operate, aimed at dependent people, particularly senior citizens living on their own who need help with daily tasks.

At the same time, the Municipal Telecare Service is making 3,000 calls a day to give people information and handle queries on Covid-19 from all users, particularly elderly and dependent people.

Social support

Teams working in public spaces to provide social support for the homeless and irregular settlements in the city have so far attended to people in person on 3,742 occasions and provided support remotely on 8,522 occasions. This is in addition to support provided by the Office for the Plan on Irregular Settlements (OPAI), the Social Integration and Outreach Service (SISMO), the Social Action Service for Families with Minors (SISFAM), the Conflict Management Service (SGC) and the Detection and Intervention Service (SDI).

 

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