New shelter in Athens to open for the homeless

Seeking to provide decent living conditions for hundreds of homeless people in the Greek capital, the municipality of Athens on Wednesday opened the doors of a new shelter which can host up to 400 people.

According to the announcement, the Homeless Centre is housed in three adjoining buildings at the corner of Acharnon and Liossion Streets and will be staffed by doctors, care workers, nurses, social workers and psychologists.

At the Day Centre, residents will be able to wash their clothes and take showers, while there are also places where they can store their personal belongings and internet rooms, TV rooms and a dining area.

In the dormitory, the homeless can stay as long as they need.

More than 100 homeless people have already expressed an interest in staying at the shelter and staff from the municipality and other organisations were assessing candidates and carrying out medical checks.

Additionally, a team of the National Public Health Organisation will test for the new coronavirus and, in the case of individuals that test positive, they will go to an isolation area specifically set up for this purpose within the facilitiy.

The Greek Red Cross, the organisations "Apostoli", Praksis, Doctors  of the World, Equal Society and others have contributed to the effort. The municipality of Athens said that the aim is a gradual re-integration of the people at the facility.

"One of the major battles that the municipality is fighting now is the battle against time. We must regroup and reorganise our forces to protect the most vulnerable groups of the population," Athens mayor Kostas Bakoyannis said.

[ANA]