Huelva, open doors to the homeless

Hands extended to the homeless: it’s the commitment of the diocesan Caritas of Huelva, Spain, who cared for a total of 657 homeless and carried out 12 303 interventions of various kinds. The degree of support given was approximately the same as the previous years, although the summer months – said operators and volunteers – were particularly difficult. In fact, requests of assistance remained high throughout the year, including the coldest winter months. The problem of the homeless is direly felt in Spain. Every year Spanish Caritas and diocesan Caritas, with the cooperation of other bodies promote an awareness campaign in the month of November titled "No more homeless." The diocese of Huelva is on the Coast of Light, many people pass by the coastal areas in the summer months, and the needs of intervention for the homeless to find shelter are significantly growing. Moreover, in recent times the degree of assistance to the homeless given by the charity centre "Open Doors" has been very intense. Satisfying primary needs. The diocesan Caritas of Huelva has taken care of 560 people to satisfy primary needs like breakfast, clothing, shoes and personal hygiene. These people have benefitted from 7.266 assistance services in the first eight months of the year. In addition, they were offered shower and hygiene services thereby giving 430 people the opportunity of solving the crucial problem of washing themselves and living in dignified conditions. In addition, "Open doors" offers personal support services throughout the year by listening to the homeless’ needs and helping them stop feeling "socially invisible." This service includes various activities such as accompanying the homeless to a medical visit, offering them legal advice, helping them complete administrative procedures or handling social benefits, or listening to their daily problems. People living in the streets often have no access to these vital services. Leisure and free time. Caritas experts have carried out their support activities in the Open Doors centres and promoted leisure activities, the latest of which was a day at the beach with homeless people, with a trip to Punta Umbria. The activity of the Diocesan Caritas of Huelva focuses on five major areas, one of which is the work "with the last, whom nobody cares for." The work in the "Open Doors" centre responds to the vocation of service and dedication to those who are most in need and are excluded, the vulnerable brackets that experience the most serious problems in finding a dignified job and a role in society. The weight of the crisis. The situation is further worsened by the economic crisis, which according to the director of the Caritas of Huelva Julio González, "has grown worse and has become chronic. Moreover, charity services that previously supported great numbers of people in need are also becoming weaker." In particular, widespread poverty worsens the condition of the homeless because aids are decreasing. Moreover, "entire families risk ending up in the streets when the supporting member of the family looses his job, and can no longer afford to pay the rent or the bills." Among the initiatives undertaken by Caritas to promote social economy figures an artisan workshop designed to spread productive and solidarity work and sell the handcrafted objects made in the workshop of the "Open Doors" centre. The recycling, reuse, repair workshop offers job opportunities to people at risk of exclusion while raising social awareness on the need to reduce consumption levels by reusing old objects, fixing what needs to be fixed and making new use of apparently unnecessary objects.