XASP! (Xarxes de Suport Primari): Primary Support Networks for homeless people who use drugs (Castellón)

This programme strengthens the natural groups of homeless people who use drugs in order to promote, through solidarity and mutual aid, greater autonomy, access to rights and support at critical moments.

All of this by providing professional support within the network itself to expand its potential through an exchange that enables joint learning and capacity building. The result is an increase in the number of people reached and the strengthening of the area and its inhabitants as part of a single community.

Due to the severe social exclusion experienced by the people we work with, their primary social network is made up (when there is one) of people in the same situation, who share spaces on a more or less permanent basis and, in some cases, significant support people (neighbours, shopkeepers, friends…).

For some years now, FSC has been carrying out an experience of harm reduction and expansion of support through these natural support networks, which we have formalised through this project, with the aim of expanding its impact and consolidating the experience that has been developed.

The needs addressed are: social participation, crisis support, prevention of suicide and overdose in contexts of isolation, harm reduction and capacity building for people experiencing great social suffering, specifically homeless people with addictive disorders.

It should be noted that the project uses harm reduction as a strategy for inclusion and empowerment, which has a positive impact on aspects of the lives of the people served in terms of preventing serious illnesses, and generates inclusive dynamics, encouraging the participation of beneficiaries in the project. For this reason, group interventions or capacity-building workshops are usually held at the Low-Threshold Intervention Centre (CIBE Castelló) of Fundación Salud y Comunidad (FSC).