Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Rabaiotti: “It is important to promote people's autonomy with the activation of social networks and a close and attentive context”
 
Milan, August 5 2019 – Mental illness, the Municipality allocates two hundred thousand euros in contributions to associations, bodies and institutions for social inclusion projects for people who suffer from it. The Administration has approved the guidelines for the public notice which, now in its fourth edition and aimed at the third sector, will be distributed during this month. 

The projects to be evaluated for the assignment of the award must be carried out during the year and concern four priority areas of intervention set out in the Citizen Pact for Mental Health: 

• Living area: these are housing integration projects and support for the social and territorial inclusion and autonomy of people, with social housing and initiatives aimed at homeless people. An overall allocation of up to a maximum of 80 thousand euros is expected.
• Work area: projects to support policies and actions for professional training and job placement, also in collaboration with competent and strategic partners, and support for experiences that consolidate users' professionalism in specific areas. In this case, the overall availability can reach up to 70 thousand euros.
• Prison/Rems/New Emergencies area: this involves implementing a network of subjects suitable to help people with psychiatric pathologies who are perpetrators of crimes, released from prison or from the Rems (Residences for the execution of security measures), thus favoring paths for inclusion and social reintegration, as well as promoting the culture of recovery and hospitality.
• Prevention/Fight against stigma area: i.e. interventions for young people, especially in the school context, for prevention, awareness and fight against social stigma, a risk that mental distress always brings with it.

In the last two cases, the Administration's financing can reach up to 25 thousand euros.

The associations, bodies and institutions that intend to participate in the public notice can also do so in partnership with each other, and must already have been carrying out activities in the city context in favor of people with mental disabilities for no less than 2 years.

“A contribution – comments the councilor for Social and Housing Policies Gabriele Rabaiotti – aimed at finalizing pilot projects and experiments in an area of ​​intervention which, given the delicacy and difficulty of finding right and effective answers, needs support for innovation. Among the four thematic areas that the projects will have to intercept, the one relating to Living underlines how the commitment - that of the Administration in promotion and that of the Third sector in implementation - must be oriented towards the construction of places that favor the autonomy of people and the activation of informal social networks. The autonomy of those affected by mental disabilities is strongly connected to the strength of the context, the presence of friendly people and close and attentive support networks".