The “Post Station” project is underway at the Casa delle Culture

The “Post Station” project is underway at the Casa delle Culture.

In the spaces of the municipal multifunctional center House of Cultures, in via Barisano da Trani, at San Paolo, the Post station, a multifunctional reception center for the promotion ofsocial inclusion addressed in particular to homeless people, promoted by the municipal Welfare department as part of the programming supported by the funds PNNR (Sub-component 1 – Social services, disability and social marginality – Investment 1.3 – Housing first and post stations – Sub-investment 1.3.2 – Post stations) for an amount of 1.090.000 euros.

The line of action envisaged by the PNRR for the creation of service centers (post stations) for fight against poverty, in fact, has the objective of create access points to services, spread across the territory, easily recognizable by people in need, which represent a safe place, integrated with the network of reception centers and social canteens, where services to combat poverty such as health screening, catering, postal distribution, cultural mediation, consultancy, job orientation, legal consultancy and distribution of goods, in addition to annight reception limited (13 places available). The Casa delle Culture post station will therefore be structured as a place of very first reception and social inclusion open to citizens and oriented towards offering support to homeless people, therefore in conditions of extreme vulnerability and social marginalization, always networked with municipal and territorial services, with associations and citizen volunteering organizations and in connection with ASL and employment services, also for the creation of training internships.

The planned activities concern primarily thefront office activation, orientation desk, taking charge and care management of guests, accompaniment for the residence application, post office/email inbox, in addition to the aforementioned canteen services, night reception and socio-health screening.

Furthermore, as part of the actions planned to better support social inclusion paths, House of Cultures intends to establish a Time Bank in which anyone who wishes, based on their skills and professionalism, can make their time available for free satisfy people's needs who live in conditions of economic and social fragility according to a model of community welfare and horizontal subsidiarity. To this end, interested parties can send their participation in the project "Community Time Bank”, specifying the relevant activities, by writing an email to iscrive.casadelleculture@reteoltre.it. The activities will take place on the premises of House of Cultures or in other locations agreed with the donor of their time.

“The post office launched in the city of Bari, as foreseen by the plans of the PNRR funds for social inclusion, represents a further step in the overall plan of the city's social offer, with over 100 services launched in recent years, retracing practices and innovative models already tested in our city and adopted by other Municipalities – comments the Welfare councilor Francesca Bottalico -. In particular, the post station will be configured as a new territorial antenna for orientation, support, accompaniment and taking care of citizens with strong social vulnerability, including migrants, offering them useful tools and paths to support their social, working and housing inclusion, in the wake of what has been achieved with the UNHCR, PitStop, and Piu Supreme projects in network with the Welfare Department. The integrated and interdisciplinary management of policies, services and institutions represents for us the only possible path to implement effective inclusion and well-being projects, also starting from the involvement of civil society and developing community welfare practices, such as the community".

The Casa delle Culture multipurpose center is financed with funds PON Metro 2014-20 by the municipal welfare department and managed by Medtraining in partnership with the cooperative Saint John of God. The structure represents a garrison to welcome, orient, integrate, support and educate in dialogue, solidarity and reciprocity. A place where Italian citizens and migrants, adults and minors, can meet and share significant experiences and life stories together to build cultural, supportive and inclusive bridges through workshops, initiatives, presentations, shows and exhibitions.