Social emergency facility for homeless people. Fira Montjuïc (Barcelona)[Proyecto finalizado]

The current exceptional health emergency, which began on 14 March with the declaration of the State of Alarm, has particularly affected the most vulnerable people, such as homeless people.

Faced with this difficult situation, FSC has joined the fight against COVID-19 by setting up and managing the COVID-19 Social Emergency Facility for homeless people at the Fira de Montjuïc. The general objective of this facility is to guarantee a safe space for homeless people, allowing them to go through lockdown in dignified conditions during the health emergency in order to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.

The emergency facility has capacity for 225 homeless people, with 24-hour care provided by a multidisciplinary team of more than 50 professionals from different disciplines (Social Work, Social Education, Psychology, Social Integration and health professionals).

Within the facility there is a 15-place Isolation Module for people who begin to show symptoms related to COVID-19 while they wait to be transferred to hospital, as well as a 10-place Module for people with special needs, if any are identified.

The main objectives of the Proyecto Emergencias Sociales Fira are:

1. To guarantee that the basic, health, social and emotional needs of the people assisted are met.
2. To promote the establishment of schedules for better adaptation to the lockdown situation.
3. To facilitate alternative and leisure activities during lockdown, especially those that promote cooperative and interpersonal relationships.
4. To strengthen emotional aspects that help meet the challenge of being in lockdown (self-confidence, autonomy, etc.) and make it easier to cope with isolation.
5. To report positive COVID-19 cases and activate the established mechanisms to coordinate rapid isolation in hospitals or other facilities created specifically for this purpose.

The facility’s activities will be organised around the following services, distributed across different areas or spaces of the pavilion:

• Reception / welcome area.
• Left-luggage service.
• Shower service.
• Clothing bank service.
• Dining service.
• Laundry service.
• Rest service.
• Leisure and activities area.
• Isolation area (for people with symptoms).

The Service operates in the Victoria Eugènia Pavilion of the Fira de Barcelona exhibition centre on Montjuïc.

The service ceased operating in December 2020, and many of the people assisted were transferred to the COVID Social Emergency Night Hostel for homeless people (Barcelona).