One of the editors of the newspaper INFORM participated as a volunteer in the “Homeless Meet Up” campaign, the European initiative that took place in Alicante on 21 and 22 November. Once I hung up the reflective vest, I went out to the doors of the CAI to talk with those who had decided to use their Tuesday night to do a count of homeless people: nothing more and nothing less than a team of two hundred volunteers.
Among them, I found the gratitude to the volunteer of Julia Angelo, who recently has left the command of the Department of Social Action. With the appreciation for the accuracy of these new data of Carmen, worker of this same council; or with the activism of Linda Stein, an English woman who has already participated in the recounts of this campaign held in other cities such as London or Valencia. “In particular, the data we managed to collect in Valencia allowed us to start acting in a different way,” Stein explained.
Groups were formed headed by a leader familiar with the “homeless” environment. Each one was assigned an area of action between thirty-three neighborhoods of the city of Alicante, and with a flashlight and a map, we started.
In my group, there were several students of Social Integration of Figures Pacheco, 2 workers of different NGOs wear yellow vest and an old homeless. The latter, who has already managed to bring his life back to normal, was a key piece for his great experience in the environment. Putting oneself in the shoes of those who do not have a roof to cover themselves is not an easy or precise exercise if it has not been there. The first day, Tuesday 21, we found an improvised plastic awning near the outer corner of a football field. We approached and received Carlos, a man in his forties who had already caught the dream. We talked to him, he told us how many there were and we made an appointment to talk the next day.
Once again, on Wednesday the 22, all the volunteers went out to sweep the streets to learn about the reality of the homeless. In addition, there we were, sitting on the cardboard that Carlos, his wife, his uncle and his uncle’s wife used as carpet between their two tents. All of them were waiting for us with open arms and eager to tell us their situation. We listened attentively while filling out a questionnaire that measures the degree of vulnerability of these people, helps to know how many they are and the situation in which they find themselves.
We finished and said goodbye to them, but not before inviting them to the party that took place yesterday morning in the Plaza de Gabriel. There some people in reflective clothing came to have a drink, listen to music, or see the role of a magician who played with the perception of the reality of the attendees.