- Provivienda, HOGAR SÍ, the Government of the Region of Murcia, the City Council of Murcia and the City Council of Cartagena present Derechos a la vivienda, an innovative project that aims to put an end to homelessness in the Region of Murcia.
- The presentation ceremony was attended by Isabel Franco (Vice President and Councilor for Women, Equality, LGTBI, Families, Social Policy and Transparency of the Region of Murcia), Francisca Pérez (Councilor for the Elderly, Housing and Social Services of the City Council of Murcia) and Ana Belén Castejón (Deputy Mayor of Cartagena), as representatives of the public administrations involved in the project in the territory.
- Enrique Martínez (Director of Housing Rights at HOGAR SÍ) and Dámaris Barajas (Director of Planning at Provivienda) also participated.
- 40 homeless people in the Region of Murcia will participate in the innovation project presented.
Monday, November 14, 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 project Housing Rights, aimed at implementing a housing model that promotes the processes of prevention and deinstitutionalization of people experiencing homelessness. With this project, thanks to the participation of the Government of the Region of Murcia and the City Councils of Murcia and Cartagena, the aim is to transform public policies for the care of homeless people over the next 3 years.
In the rest of Spain, another 9 public administrations have become involved in this project in which around 1,000 people will participate in, in addition to Murcia and Cartagena, these territories: Madrid, Barcelona, Seville, Mallorca, Gijón and Avilés.
The presentation was attended byIsabel Franco, Vice President and Councilor for Women, Equality, LGTBI, Families, Social Policy and Transparency of the Region of Murcia; Paqui Pérez, Councilor Delegate for the Elderly, Housing and Social Services of the City Council of Murcia; and Ana Belén Castejón, Deputy Mayor of Cartagena, representatives of the public administrations involved in the project in the territory.
The main objective of "Housing Rights" is to transform the network of resources for homelessness in Spain by providing solutions adapted to each person for a safe and chosen transition to a life in the community. This innovative project aims to promote the development of deinstitutionalization policies, as well as the prevention of institutionalization, so that participants require less support.
Isabel Franco, Vice President and Councilor for Women, Equality, LGTBI, Families, Social Policy and Transparency of the Region of Murcia has also highlighted the more inclusive side of this initiative since "the lives of these people will change radically because, by living together, affective environments and a social network will be generated that makes them feel more supported and they can perceive every day that they are accompanied and that they are not alone".
On the other hand, Paqui Pérez, councilor delegate for the Elderly, Housing and Social Services of the City Council of Murcia has insisted that "housing is the transforming lever of realities to end homelessness". "With this project we can set a course for social policies focused on people," continued Perez.
Ana Belén Castejón, deputy mayor of the City of Cartagena, highlighted the opportunity offered by Housing Rights to "continue improving and adapting to new methods of care for the homeless and to set the model to follow".
HOGAR SÍ and Provivienda have been developing together since 2017 the Housing First model in Spain, and from both organizations believe that decent housing is the starting point for the recovery of the rights of people experiencing homelessness.
"We are at a key moment of collaboration between the areas of Social Services and Housing, which clearly see that homelessness is basically a problem of violation of the right to housing," says Dámaris Barajas, Provivienda's director of planning.
For his part, Enrique Martínez, director of Housing Rights at HOGAR SÍ, emphasized that "with Housing Rights we want to offer an alternative based on free choice and encourage an autonomous way out".
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, placing housing as a basic pillar within our Welfare State.
About:
As of 2017, HOME YES y Provivienda are joining forces to develop the Housing First model 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.
