Social Security services in the Algarve are tackling homelessness by providing 123 new beds in shared apartments to help get homeless people off the streets and into safer and more dignified living conditions.
The project is being brought to life with the help of five charities in the Algarve and local councils, reports Lusa news agency.
The news comes less than two weeks after a Faro-based group providing support to homeless people warned that over 500 people in the Algarve are living either on the street or in other situations considered “precarious”. (click here)
“In the space of a year, this will mean more than 100 people will be removed from the street and (provided) an alternative life project, which is extraordinary,” said Henrique Joaquim, the coordinator of the National Strategy for the Integration of Homeless People 2017-2023.
The first protocols relating to this project were signed around a year ago, providing around 70 beds via shared apartments to people in need in the Algarve.
Those who end up living in these shared apartments are not simply left to their own devices, stressed Joaquim, who added that counsellors will provide residents with support.
He added that the “positive results” in the Algarve can continue to grow “in a very significant way”.
“Our assessment of the Algarve is very good,” said Joaquim, adding that he hopes the economy will improve so that the homeless people being assisted through this initiative can “take advantage of the opportunities they are being given”.
