Milano, in via Sammartini a temporary store for the homeless

Milano, in via Sammartini a temporary store for the homeless.

With the aim of giving an answer to primary needs and, at the same time, opening a relational gap for the possible start of a path of re-inclusion, was born, in Milano, in via Sammartini 126, a temporary store dedicated to the distribution of essential material goods to the homeless.

The space granted on free loan for use by Large Rail Stations to the municipal administration - which has already been hosting for several months “Hub 126”, handled by Ark Project Foundation and dedicated to the first orientation of Ukrainian refugees – is now expanding its functions: it will be open five days a week – Monday, Wednesday and Friday from 14pm to 30pm, Tuesday and Thursday from 17am to 30pm – throughout autumn and winter.

«The temporary store – declares the councilor for Welfare and Health Lamberto Bertole - aims to be a place of timely responses, individualized and effective, but also of engaging people in fragile conditions whose mistrust is often an obstacle to their being taken care of by local services. This is a fundamental space especially in view of the arrival of the colder seasons, in which once again a method is reiterated - that of the alliance with a third sector always ready to do its part - which Milano has proven successful in recent years. We work together every day to ensure that poverty and the condition of marginalization can be temporary moments in people's lives and not chronic situations that fester."

People will be welcomed by social workers who will evaluate the need and support users in choosing the products they need. Various ones are available: from basic necessity kits with food products, for personal hygiene, for first aid or for underwear or clothing to the more specific ones for training and work which can be assigned, after a taken in charge, to those who are following a particular path of work inclusion and who may therefore need, for example, technological devices such as tablets, power banks and portable modems or specific tools for manual work, such as safety shoes, reflective vests or work overalls. There will also be the possibility of purchasing goods on individual request to respond to specific needs, with the idea of ​​providing a choice between colours, models and sizes in order to restore dignity and self-determination to the person.

The goods were purchased thanks to financing PO I FEAD for over 4 million euro, obtained from the Municipality of Milano through participation in European tenders and managed in partnership with five third sector bodies that participated in a co-design procedure: Ark Project Foundation who took care of the purchase and storage of the goods, Italian Red Cross – Committee of Milano which took care of street distribution through mobile units, Brothers of Saint Francis Foundation which dealt with distribution in reception facilities and, finally, Open Space Services and Social Cooperative Community Project who took care of distribution both in daytime facilities (canteens, showers, day centers) and through local social services and who will manage the temporary store in via Sammartini and welcome users. There are more than 50 subjects involved in the distribution networks.

«When we renovated the rooms that now house the new temporary store, just under a year ago with the donation from the Fiera Foundation Milano, our goal was to create a versatile space, then dedicated to the initial reception of Ukrainians but ready to quickly reconvert to respond to emergencies. Today via Sammartini 126 – area of Milano historically dedicated to fragility - has done exactly what it was born for, becoming a new space that guarantees services to homeless people - he says Alberto Sinigallia, president of Fondazione Progetto Arca -. In the network of local entities involved, such as Progetto Arca we wanted to take care of the purchase of the goods, selected by looking at the needs of the people that our operators and volunteers meet on the street every day".

«We are pleased to inaugurate this space, which we will manage together with Comunità Progetto, the result of valuable networking work with all the co-planning partners - declares Maria Grazia Campese, president of Spazio Aperto Servizi -. A place not only for finding goods that are undoubtedly useful for daily life, but a local service that welcomes and listens to people's needs, which are often difficult to share, a space to dedicate time, attention and take care of each one".

«Thanks to this project launched by the Municipality of Milano - declares Maria Secchi, project manager for the Fratelli di San Francesco Foundation - we are able to meet the needs of homeless people with a view to identifying their needs. The Foundation, in fact, acts as a point of contact with the bodies that manage the structures for the homeless for the destruction of assets".

Homeless people will be able to spontaneously access the space or be sent by project partners or other bodies that deal with combating serious marginalization and who can report the sending by giving the person an identification card or by writing to the email address feed@spazioapertoservizi.org.

Space - of approximately 100 square meters - it has been organized to guarantee maximum privacy of the people who access it. The operators present will take care of the initial reception, the distribution of goods and orientation to public and private social services.