Housing First. Crisis of homelessness in São Paulo
The city of São Paulo is helping people in crisis of homelessness in accordance with the Housing First principle. Micro-houses are being built for families who cannot afford the rent.
In Brazil's biggest municipality, known as the São Paulo Macrometropolis, the pandemic has caused a sharp increase in the homelessness crisis. People who have lost their jobs often cannot even afford to pay the rent in the infamous favelas. The number of people without a roof over their heads has increased by as much as 31%. Many of these are families with children.
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Housing First - a data-driven approach to homelessness
São Paulo City Hall is trying to improve the situation with the Housing First principle. It is a data-driven approach according to which the most effective way (also in terms of costs) to combat homelessness is to provide those in crisis with their own housing.
It's a way of looking after people based on the well-known international concept of Housing First, offering housing as the first step in helping to get them back on their feet.
The city is setting up housing estates with micro-houses measuring 18 sq m each and making them available first to homeless families. One of them is a 30-year-old Daniela with her husband Rafael and two children, who had previously lived in a shelter for eight months. Rafael lost his job as a sales assistant during the pandemic and Daniela was unable to find work as a cleaner.
"This is a place where we are trying to get back to living in society, to be human again, you know?" explained Rafael to a bbc.com reporter. "We just want a normal life - so many employers think that people who live in a shelter are bad people."
Experts on homelessness confirm that the stigma associated with losing a home is often what keeps people from getting back on their feet. Raquel Rolnik, a professor at the Faculty of Architecture and Urban Planning at the University of São Paulo, in a statement quoted by bbc.com, said that among those living on the street, the majority of them "are male with some mental problems and issues with their families".
Mrs Rolnik is pleased that the city is taking steps to help those in crisis. However, she believes that micro-houses estates are not a perfect solution. She is concerned about the ghettoisation of these places, which will not be conducive to returning to society. According to Rolnik, a better solution would be to use existing, often abandoned housing, which the city of São Paulo is abundant with.
Source: bbc.com
