Berlin – Everywhere in Berlin there are homeless people on the streets, and the season of the year that many of them are afraid of has begun. It gets cold. However, cold relief facilities are distributed very unevenly across the city and information on where to find them does not seem to get through.
FDP MP Thomas Seerig asked the Senate how things were going when it came to overnight accommodation. State Secretary for Social Welfare Alexander Fischer (left) replied that since October 1st there have been 214 places to stay in emergency overnight accommodation facilities and in night cafes that are only open on individual days, plus 193 in emergency overnight accommodation facilities that are open all year round.
Senate has no influence on district support for cold weather
When asked by the Berliner Zeitung, the Senate Department for Social Affairs said that it had no influence on where and how many emergency overnight stays were held. That is a matter for the districts. They are responsible for fulfilling the state’s task of accommodating people. However, it has been ensured that the cold aid starts in October and not in November and runs until the end of April instead of the end of March.
Thomas Seerig thinks that the system is in need of improvement: “Each district muddles away for itself.” You don’t necessarily have to tell each district where to provide how many emergency overnight stays, but city-wide coordination is desirable, similar to that recently done by Senator for Social Affairs Elke Breitenbach (Linke) initiated “overall urban management of accommodation” to avoid homelessness. Then the districts would no longer be able to simply duck away when it comes to cold relief.
Seerig said he encountered the problem in his Steglitz-Zehlendorf district. There is an emergency overnight stay from November on, in Bergstrasse. “At first I thought it was Bergstrasse in Steglitz, in an area where the homeless are more frequent.” However, the Bergstrasse “jwd” in Wannsee is difficult to reach.
EU funds pilot project for homeless people with 11.4 million euros
The Senate, meanwhile, is working towards its goal of eradicating homelessness in the city by 2030. Three year-round facilities will soon be opened, from which homeless people do not have to leave during the day, but can stay for weeks and are offered three meals a day. They should be able to relax better, and social workers should be given the opportunity to look after them and help, for example to find an apartment.
There should be a total of 190 places: in Kreuzberg, Mitte and Treptow-Köpenick. The facility in Kreuzberg will be reserved for women.
This is a two-year pilot project, financed with 11.4 million euros from the “React” program of the European Union.
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