“Towers, roofs, tortellini”. This is the name of the new campaign launched by the Piazza Grande cooperative, who manages the services in Bologna representing the Municipality and Asp and dealing with life on the street for thirty years. The objective is to help the homeless in a concrete way. «To give the spring to carry out this campaign», says the president of Piazza Grande Ilaria Avoni «was primarily the death of a homeless personMario, which took place in December in San Felice, a tragic event that was followed by the death of two other homeless people». As indicated in the press conference, the Towers, Roofs, Tortellini campaign will consist mainly of three initiatives. LAt first it focuses on the placement of billboards on the streets the city of a hundred participatory posters addressed to the people of Bologna who will be able to complete the above content (“To live is a…, to prevent is a…”) with the words they deem most appropriate and thus express their opinion. «It will be a kind of brainstorming of the city.” said Avoni “and the words written by those who want to participate will be collected to be discussed in a public meeting about the life planned for next autumn ». The second initiative contemplates the commitment of businesses of various kinds, starting with bars and restaurants, to provide goods to the homeless may need: «The use of the toilet without the obligation to consume, fresh water, cell phone charging, etc. «To date», says the president of the cooperative «a fortnight of businesses have been incorporated, mostly bars, and full list will be posted on the Piazza Grande website». The third and last, which is also the most demanding, is “an appeal addressed to individuals for the provision of thirty homes and resources to start projects in them housing first».
“A stable and non-temporary housing experience”
Starting from the observation that “at the moment finding a home here in Bologna is quite a daunting problem,” Avoni continues, “what you want to achieve, when it comes to housing first, it is precisely a stable life experience and not a temporary accommodation that is accompanied by an educational path ». it is an initiative that would in fact extend the housing plan of the Municipality of Bologna to also include the homeless: «Often land the reception facilities themselves are inadequate to meet all the needs of those who live without a fixed address. To handle the current situation, be about thirty people living in these conditions, at least thirty private apartments are needed, whose owners are willing accept controlled rents» concludes Avoni. Finally, the problem of being at home. related to relationships with others (“Housing first is not only walls, but also relationships”), Piazza Grande has decided to start a fundraiser on the website of the cooperative itself, in order to obtain the necessary resources to implement the various educational projects.