- Provivienda, HOGAR SÍ and the Ministry of Social Rights and Agenda 2030 present the innovation projects Rights to Housing and H4Y FUTURO. innovation projects Derechos a la vivienda and H4Y FUTURO, which seek to address homelessness. to respond to homelessness.
- The Minister for Social Rights and Agenda 2030 participated in the presentation ceremony, Ione Belarrathe General Director of Family Diversity and Social Rights, Patricia Bezunarteaand the twelve public administrations participating in the projects.
- 1,289 homeless people will be housed in the two innovation projects presented. in the two innovation projects presented.
Madrid, September 7, 2022. HOGAR SÍ and Provivienda, thanks to funding from the Next Generation EU funds of the Plan for Recovery, Transformation and Resilience of the Ministry of Social Rights and Agenda 2030, have celebrated the presentation of the innovation projects Housing Rights and H4Y FUTURO. Both are aimed at implementing a model of accompaniment that promotes the processes of deinstitutionalization of people in a situation of homelessness. With these projects, thanks to the participation of twelve regional and local public administrations, the aim is to transform public policies for the care of homeless people over the next 3 years in 8 cities: Avilés, Barcelona, Cartagena, Gijón, Madrid, Mallorca, Murcia and Seville.
The meeting was attended by the Minister for Social Rights and Agenda 2030, Ione Belarra, and Patricia Bezunartea, Director General for Family Diversity and Social Rights. Representatives of the 12 administrations participating in the projects took part in the presentation through two round tables: City Councils of Avilés, Barcelona, Cartagena, Gijón, Madrid, Murcia and Seville and participants from the Community of Madrid, Consell de Mallorca, Junta de Andalucía, Principado de Asturias and Región de Murcia.
The meeting also featured contributions from leading international experts in the field of homelessness such as Freek Spinnewijn, director of FEANTSA; Juha Kahila, director of international affairs at Y-Foundation in Finland; and Matt Downie, executive director of Crisis in the United Kingdom, who focused on housing-based solutions to homelessness.
The main objective of the Housing Rights and H4Y FUTURE projects is to transform the network of care for homeless people in Spain by providing solutions tailored to each person for a safe and chosen transition to a life in the community. "Housing Rights" seeks to promote the development of deinstitutionalization policies, as well as the prevention of institutionalization. In other words, it seeks to promote changes in the traditional response system to the problem of homelessness: moving from care in large centers and shelters to care in community housing. For its part, H4Y FUTURO proposes to respond to the challenge posed by youth homelessness through a pilot project to test the application of the Housing First for Youth methodology in our country, and to generate data to obtain rigorous and objective evidence for the development of new public policies.
In the words of Ione Belarra, Minister of Social Rights and Agenda 2030: "Housing cannot be a prize at the end of a road of hardship, of an obstacle course, it must come first. This is the path taken by the two pilot projects that we are proudly financing from the Ministry through the Next Generation Funds. These projects would be impossible without the excellent work of HOGAR SÍ and Provivienda".
Provivienda and HOGAR SÍ have been developing together since 2017 the Housing First model in Spain, and in both organizations believe that decent housing is the starting point for the recovery of the rights of people experiencing homelessness.
"We currently have a unique context to address the problem of homelessness from housing. The future Law on the Right to Housing or the State Plan for Access to Housing are two key opportunities to respond to this structural problem in our country. In addition, the commitment shown by the 12 administrations in these two projects is an essential impulse to move in this direction", says Gema Gallardo, general director of Provivienda.
Shelters and shelters are the main model of response to homelessness. As Marian Juste, president of HOGAR SÍ, insists: "These centers allow people to survive, yes, but they do not guarantee their long-term recovery. Urgent reforms are needed to promote a transformation process aimed at deinstitutionalizing the care system and generating new models based on access to housing, person-centered care and a community approach. The projects we are presenting today are an exceptional opportunity to promote this transformation."
For Provivienda and HOGAR SÍ, the State Law for the Right to Housing, the Comprehensive National Strategy for the Homeless and the National Strategy for Deinstitutionalization are an opportunity to transform the care system for homeless people, moving towards methodologies based on the personalization of support and the response in community environments, to achieve the recovery of autonomy from a rights-based approach.
About:
As of 2017, HOME YES y Provivienda are joining forces to develop the Housing first model based on housing solutions in Spain. The objectives of this Alliance are threefold:
- Generate a dynamic of development of the model in Spain, respecting the fidelity of the original model.
- Intensify the separation between housing and treatment of people.
- Incorporate other organizations for the development of the model in territories where other entities interested in joining and following the methodology are identified.
HOGAR YES is a social, non-profit, independent, plural and statewide entity, created in 1998. We are convinced that it is possible to end homelessness and we believe in the responsibility of facing the problem from the society, putting the focus on the problem and not on the person who suffers it.
Provivienda is a non-profit association that has been working since 1989 so that everyone can enjoy the right to housing on equal terms. From our association we want to offer housing that changes lives and creates community, responding to the residential needs, especially of people in more difficult situations.
