Arrels Foundation transforms Barcelona mayor candidates into homeless people to raise awareness
Only 32% of people living on streets allowed to vote in local elections
Only 32% of people living on streets allowed to vote in local elections
Arrels Foundation secured stable accommodation for 268 people
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Hundreds of initiatives promoted across territory during festive season to help those in need
Arrels Foundation director on the importance of Christmas meals for homeless people
Arrels Foundation warns that 15% cannot meet their basic needs and 18% report mental health problems
Arrels Foundation administered Janssen jabs to 80 people on Thursday morning
549 volunteers scour the Catalan capital’s streets with Fundació Arrels
Barcelona’s Arrels Foundation receives recognition for promoting EU values in its work with homeless people
The Fundació Arrels (Arrels Foundation) – a Barcelona-based NGO dedicated to homeless people founded in 1987 – registered 892 persons sleeping on the streets of the Catalan capital on Wednesday night. More than 700 volunteers – in groups of three or four – combed the city divided up into 160 areas from midnight until 2 am. The initiative aimed at counting people sleeping on the streets: inside ATM lobbies, under bridges, on benches of public parks, in front of private entrances or nearby train stations. Barcelona's local Ombudsman service – an institution for the defence of rights and public liberties – also took part, through the presence of some of its staff among the volunteers. According to Maria Assumpció Vilà, Head of Barcelona's Ombudsman office, the reality certified by the Arrels Foundation is "absolutely unacceptable". "An emergency plan must be launched urgently", she stressed, as the Catalan capital cannot accept having 900 people without a place to sleep.
The Fundació Arrels (Arrels Foundation) works to assist Barcelona homeless people. Just in the Catalan capital there are more than 2,000 homeless people. The foundation receives 65% of their funds from private citizens and companies.