Palermo: A Home For People In Need

Restoring dignity to “invisible” individuals is the core mission around which the DIMORA project revolves, promoted by the Municipality of Palermo to provide accommodation and assistance to socially and health vulnerable individuals in the Sicilian capital.

The initiative, launched in November 2018 with the support of European Social Fund resources under the Operational Program “Metropolitan Cities” 2014-2020, and later refinanced in 2021 for a total amount of approximately 6.3 million euros, aims to improve the services offered to people living on the streets, in situations of extreme marginalization, through a series of integrated interventions and actions.

It all starts on the streets. This is where teams of experienced social and health care operators reach out to homeless individuals, providing them with the necessary assistance and then assessing the possibility of relocating them to the three day and night centers: “Martin Luther King,” “San Francesco,” and “San Carlo,” specifically created for the DIMORA project.

Within these centers, individuals are assisted with basic needs, receive medical and legal consultations, and, most importantly, can participate in a program to exit the condition of social exclusion, which includes a service to activate virtual residence and guidance toward housing placement. The goal is to enable individuals to reintegrate into the workforce and find housing independently. In this regard, housing-led support serves as an intermediate step towards autonomy, designed for guests who are ready to exit the program initiated within the centers and who, while waiting to find their own home (housing first), can live in an apartment with other tenants who have undergone similar paths, for a maximum of 10 months (extendable up to 12 months).

A comprehensive approach to the needs of homeless individuals is made possible by the extensive network of associations and professionals involved in the project, including Opera Don Calabria, Centro Diaconale Valdese, La Panormitana Cooperativa Sociale, Croce Rossa Italiana-Comitato di Palermo, and Fondazione San Giuseppe dei Falegnami.

To date, approximately 600 individuals have received assistance in the three day and night centers of the DIMORA project. Many of them have successfully embarked on the path to housing and employment autonomy, demonstrating the effectiveness of the accommodation model proposed by DIMORA.

A model capable of creating more cohesive communities, from which individuals in difficulty can start rebuilding their lives and social identities.