Exemplary!🧣 NorteShopping offers shelter to homeless people in winter

An initiative in the city of Rio de Janeiro that deserves to be replicated by shopping centres all over Brazil. NorteShopping, located in the Cachambi district, has been opening the doors of its car park for the past five years to welcome homeless people during the months of July and August, when the city faces its coldest nights.

The space has the capacity to accommodate up to 60 homeless people, from 8pm to 8am, with preference for women, the elderly and people with disabilities (PwD), and the initiative has a partnership with the project Church on the Street.

As well as a safe place to sleep, the refugees receive food (soups and snacks), personal hygiene kits and blankets, donated by companies, volunteers or individuals.

Trained teams travel around the shopping centre to invite homeless people to stay overnight. Over the course of the 30-day project, the programme's participants arrive at the shopping centre in the afternoon in vans belonging to the Municipal Department of Social Assistance.

They receive a warm welcome and are given a shower and toiletries. Dinner is then served and afterwards they can go to the recreation area, which has a TV, table football and table tennis tables, and a reading corner with books. At 10pm it's time to rest and sleep.

They are greeted and directed to shower and personal hygiene. Then the shopping centre team serves dinner and, at the end, they have free time to entertain themselves in a dedicated area with a TV, table football and table tennis tables, and a reading corner with books. At 10pm, it's time to rest and sleep.

Inclusion in the labour market has not been forgotten by Norte Shopping and SMAS. All participants have access to training courses in porterage and cleaning. The initiative's results are positive: over its first four years, 51 people have left the labour market and 19 have returned to their homes.

🌟 Initiatives like this show that it is possible to transform urban spaces into networks that welcome and rebuild lives. NorteShopping's example inspires and invites other shopping centres in the country to engage in social responsibility, offering more than comfort to consumers - offering dignity to those who need it most. If you're part of a company, organisation or collective, how about proposing a similar action in your city? Join Solidaritas and share initiatives that are making a difference!

Source: NorteShopping offers shelter to homeless people in winter / Diário do RIo

Photo caption: Participants in the NorteShopping shelter project at the temporary shelter: welcome, listening and hope for safer and more dignified nights during the Rio winter. (Disclosure)