Ponta Delgada puts 450,000 euros into homeless and addiction services
Azores GuideAn emergency centre for up to 30 people is under construction on Rua de São João de Deus, and a residence for 10 people leaving addiction treatment is planned.
Ponta Delgada City Council is creating two new social services for homeless people and people with addiction problems, at a cost of about 450,000 euros. Councillor for social action Cristina do Canto Tavares announced them on 23 October at the opening of a seminar on new drugs and vulnerable people at the Escola Superior de Saúde.
Work on a Social Emergency Centre on Rua de São João de Deus began in September. The council is paying 106,000 euros for it, in partnership with the Instituto São João de Deus. The centre will take up to 30 people and will have a social canteen, showers and an office offering social, psychological and nursing support. It occupies an adapted Casa de Saúde building with its own street entrance and can use the institute's laundry.
The second project is a Psychosocial Rehabilitation Residence, costing 330,000 euros under a funding protocol with the same institute. It will house 10 people who have completed an addiction treatment programme, with follow-up care from nurses, psychiatrists, psychologists and sociocultural staff.
Together the two services will serve 40 people. The councillor also cited the council's homelessness planning unit NPISA, the Housing First programme and its funding of the after-hours team Fora de Horas. According to Correio dos Açores, she said the spread of synthetic cathinones in the Azores calls for stronger prevention and treatment.
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Azores Guide
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