Institutional portal - Municipality of Milan

Bertolé: "Over 800 thousand euros more than in previous years have been allocated to increase the quality of reception and to intercept the new needs that have emerged with the pandemic"

Milan, 27 December 2021 – Funds dedicated to hosting the homeless are increasing, to focus on quality reception and more effective paths to support them towards independence.

With a resolution approved by the Council, the Municipality invests over 3 million euros to finance - in the 11 months from April 2022 to February 2023 - the residential reception system for adults in a state of serious marginalisation, implementing and testing some innovative elements . This is an allocation that provides, compared to previous years, approximately 830.000 euros more which will be mainly allocated to the creation of small-sized accommodation solutions, more suitable for welcoming the so-called street diehards who refuse hospitality in large centres.

The resources will be distributed through a co-planning notice which aims to involve the city's Third Sector, which has always been committed to supporting the most vulnerable, to design - together with the Administration - solutions suitable for the most complex needs that have emerged in recent months. In particular, these funds will finance an expansion of beds in LED housing, housing solutions that identify the home as a starting point for starting a path of social inclusion. In essence, the person will be hosted in an apartment and, in the context of a personalized project, they will be supported and supported by an educator who will accompany them in taking care of the home and in reintegrating into work. We will go from 100 to 150 places for this type of solution.

"This is – comments the councilor for Welfare and Health Lamberto Bertolé – a first step in the construction of a system that favors reception in small and medium-sized centers or apartments which, recalling the idea of ​​a real home, can overcome the resistance of the diehards who have been living on the streets for many years and lead them towards a path of social inclusion. We want to gradually increase the number of centers that offer this type of solution and with this provision we are taking a first important step in this direction".

The pandemic has also brought out new difficulties and new needs not only for single adults, but also for families. To intercept them and provide adequate responses, the Administration has envisaged the creation of temporary reception structures - for a total of 30 beds - for families with minors in social emergency situations and for families removed in flagrante delicto from occupied public housing abusively.

"The pandemic – continues councilor Bertolé – has certainly created new poverty and the resumption of the execution of evictions risks bringing to light situations of need that have remained dormant until now. It is our task to also take care of these fellow citizens of ours, ensuring that those who lose their home without guilt can have a temporary solution and does not end up on the street".

The facilities covered by this financing will be open all year round and will be part of the permanent system dedicated to the reception of people in conditions of serious marginalization which today can count on around a thousand beds, which are strengthened during the winter under the Cold Plan.