2023-05-29 20:02:53
ALSFELD (above). “The apartment is never the only problem” is how “La Strada” director Andreas Wiedenhöft describes in one sentence the needs of the people who are looking for a temporary home in the institution of the Vogelsberg diaconal work. Soroptimist International (SI) Club Lauterbach-Vogelsberg was invited to visit and found out about the work of the comprehensive life and everyday help on site. They had a donation of 3,000 euros with them.
“La Strada” is open 24 hours a day, every day. If you don’t have a place of residence and are not registered, you can literally get access at any time, as the gate is also manned at night. Individual counseling ensures that the person in need gets what he or she needs. The diverse offers range from everything that is needed for a day stay in the house, the possibilities of transitional living to assisted living.
Crisis intervention, psychosocial counseling and arranging medical care are just as much part of the team’s everyday work as registering with the social welfare office with the payment of the daily rates for the residents, according to the SI press release.
70 people currently in care
70 people are currently being looked after, as employee Benedikt Weber explains. Care that means intensive work with people who are only “homeless” in the rarest of cases: a large proportion of clients experienced desolate living conditions during childhood or had to experience violence. The resulting psychological problems are often “medicated” with drugs or alcohol, which are part of the everyday background of those affected; Unfortunately, violence is also sometimes an issue, so that the “La Strada” team needs special training in the field of de-escalation.
Anyone who receives care at “La Strada” has a great opportunity to be relocated to a structured social system, but this can take weeks or even months. You don’t want to convert people, but motivate them to change and lead an independent life with a wide range of offers.
The team is realistic, which means that not everyone can succeed. But according to the press release, “La Strada” can rightly call it a great success to have accommodated 10 to 15 people again in the so-called “First World of Work”. Residents are initially included in small areas in the daily work in the house and can slowly grow there as part of a job.
As the only contact point for homeless couples or people with dogs, the institution has a unique selling point throughout Hesse, as separate rooms are available in Alsfeld. As a rule, residents stay for up to three months. Anyone who can move into an apartment individually again will be looked after for up to two years.
Donations welcome
The housing emergency aid, which is de facto a life emergency aid, is financed from several sources: a budgeted financial plan, a per capita monthly flat rate for each resident and corresponding care rates that have to be negotiated with the district administration. Since the annual budget, once set, must not be exceeded, donations are also an important source of finance, with which “La Strada” can finance special offers, such as an open breakfast, individual emergency help, travel expenses or even covering a vet bill.
Wiedenhöft and Weber therefore thanked the whole team for the presentation of a donation of 3,000 euros from the SI Club.
#euros #donation #Strada