Hidden Superheroes - Turin Model

For over 10 years...

... the social services of the Municipality of Turin, together with the city ASLs, social cooperatives and voluntary associations (such as the Italian Red Cross, Sermig, Cottolengo, Gruppo Abele and others, illustrated in the section Teamwork) have started a collaboration for the management of services aimed at homeless people in a state of serious marginalization.

The "Adult in Difficulty" service has defined three types of homeless people, which highlight common traits and problems:

the acute, brought to the borders of society by traumatic events;
the roofless , who live on the street and refuse access to temporary accommodation services;
clinicians, such as alcoholics, patients with mental illness or disabling illnesses, and disabled people.

A snapshot of our visit to the female hospitality house in via Ghedini 6, during a workshop of the "Building Beauty" project, illustrated in the section:

Teamwork

The collaboration between the ASLs and the Municipality has created three projects:

Turin, from city to community;
S.i.s.t.ema, that is the Integrated System of Services for the fight drug addiction and marginalization;
Limen, Strengthening and social health requalification of First Reception Services for homeless people.

So, the city of Turin offers throughout the year, and not only in periods of "cold emergency", an articulated network of services aimed both at satisfying primary and relational needs, and exercising citizenship rights, as well as guaranteeing the orientation and accompaniment of people at risk of serious marginalization, or already marginalized, towards maximum autonomy.

Turin has also joined the "Housing First Italia project" since 2014, which has adapted the models of social intervention already established in other parts of the world, especially in the United States, to the Italian context. The approach changes, and if until today the reception and accompaniment of homeless people proceeded along a progressive staircase - from the sidewalk to the dormitory, then the communities, the "apartment groups", the various forms of coexistence, and finally housing precisely-. Now user self-determination is placed at the center of the intervention, providing for the direct passage from the street to the apartment, supporting people to guarantee their stay with the maximum degree of autonomy.

International experiences have shown how the new approach is effective, with the satisfaction of the citizens involved, and with a reduction in costs for the Public Administration.

Umberto Moreggia, manager of the "Adult in Difficulty" service, and Sergio Baudino, from the same Office, explain to us the «Turin Model».

«What we try to do, with the services we provide, is to offer reintegration paths into society - explains Umberto Moreggia -. Then internships, workshops, paths to help the homeless regaining confidence with the rhythms of life and work. Then, inevitably, we run into two problems: on one hand, there is the enormous difficulty in making a person abandon the state of homelessness, who gets used to it; on the other, with the current economic situation, as there is no work to offer».

Sonia Schellino, Deputy Mayor of the City of Turin, tells us how crucial is the cooperation on the territory between public and private subjects.

The attention of the Municipality in calibrating the methods of welcoming homeless people, based on their characteristics and needs, is maximum. In fact, reinforcements are planned for various services, such as the health and social clinic "Roberto Gamba" in via Sacchi 49, located in a strategic area with respect to new arrivals in the city and homeless people on the street.

«We build a bridge between users and institutions. Ours is a mending job: it's a bit like taking care of the sanity of the city».

Luciano Barbero,
psychiatrist of the facility in via Sacchi 49.

The team operating in the area is made up of two doctors, Luciano Barbero, psychiatrist, and Antonio Pistonina, addiction doctor, and social workers of the "Adults in difficulty" service of the Municipality of Turin, including Michela Cimolin, and the handler Daniela Raso.