The Legos project, which will support the homeless in seven Algarve municipalities (Albufeira, Faro, Lagos, Loulé, Portimão, Tavira and Vila Real de Santo António), starts in May. The main objective is to “give dignity” to those who live on the street, with innovative social responses.
This initiative was presented last Tuesday, March 29, in a webinar that brought together Ana Abrunhosa, Minister for Territorial Cohesion, and Ana Mendes Godinho, Minister for Labour, Solidarity and Social Security.
The Legos Project is developed by five partner beneficiary entities: MAPS – Aids Support Movement, which coordinates the partnership, GATO – Aid Group for Drug Addicts, CASA – Support Center for the Homeless, GRATO – Grupo de Support to Drug Addicts and APF – Association for Family Planning.
The great feature of the initiative is that it aims to support 593 homeless people, with a case manager. In other words: someone who accompanies, individually, each person.
Vânia Cavaco, from GATO, explained that an "intervention focused on the person, through an individual plan" will be carried out.
“We listened to all municipalities and designed the project according to their needs. The teams will go out into the street, meeting people. We will always carry out activities adapted to each person and according to their needs, with psychosocial support, elaboration of a life project, seeking to integrate through culture and sport», he added.
In addition to this, goals such as the creation of job exchanges and volunteering are added.
One of the great features of "Legos" is that it will create, in each municipality, a physical space that will serve as a "base", explained Fábio Simão, president of MAPS, to the Sul Informação.
"In these places, we will have a bank and clothes treatment, but also food support and spaces for other activities," he said.
“Our ambition is to represent the region and the voice of the people in need. This project is not for homeless people: it is for people. It could be any one of us and everything was done thinking like this: if it were us, going through this situation, what would we need?” said the MAPS official at the “Legos” presentation.
Although, for now, official figures show that 593 people have been flagged as homeless in these seven municipalities, Fábio Simão explained that, given the pandemic, this figure has already increased.
"The numbers have grown, but that doesn't scare us," he said.
«What we want is to promote integration, to reach the national goal of giving a case manager to every homeless person, and we are going to achieve this in the Algarve. It is a commitment that we have made and it is almost a dream that we are sure we will achieve», he added.
Ana Abrunhosa, Minister of Territorial Cohesion, insisted on highlighting the “networking” that will allow this project to be put on the ground.
“This is a measure of social cohesion that also builds territorial cohesion, working from territory to territory. Thanks to your commitment, the Algarve is better prepared to respond for the future in a territory that deserves so much and has so much potential», he also considered.
Ana Mendes Godinho, Minister of Labour, Solidarity and Social Security, defended that «finding solutions for the homeless is essential».
«The Algarve is the first region that joins together for this concerted response, giving a voice to those who, at this moment, often do not have it», he also said.
Moreover, the “Legos” project will work closely with another social response that is already on the ground – the shared apartments, implemented in the municipalities of Vila Real de Santo António, Tavira, Faro, Loulé, Portimão and Lagos, something emphasized by Margarida Flores, director of the District Center of Faro of Social Security.
“I truly believe in this regional project of seven municipalities that believed in this joint work. We are going to change the lives of many people and make the Algarve better», he concluded.
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