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Specialist office in Dorfen: Homelessness is prevented here

2022-03-31T07:06:47.201Z


Specialist office in Dorfen: Homelessness is prevented here Created: 03/31/2022, 09:00 By: Michaele Heske Florian Attenberger and Brigitte Fischer want to protect families from homelessness. Single parents and elderly people in need Rent in new buildings is often too high © Michaele Heske The specialist office in Dorfen to prevent homelessness in the district of Erding was officially set up. T


Specialist office in Dorfen: Homelessness is prevented here

Created: 03/31/2022, 09:00

By: Michaele Heske

Florian Attenberger and Brigitte Fischer want to protect families from homelessness.

Single parents and elderly people in need Rent in new buildings is often too high © Michaele Heske

The specialist office in Dorfen to prevent homelessness in the district of Erding was officially set up.

The employees' experience shows that the housing shortage has reached the middle of society.

Dorfen

– The real estate market in the district is highly competitive.

Brigitte Fischer from the Caritas Center in Erding knows that the housing shortage is now affecting mainstream society.

According to the observations of Fischer and her colleague Florian Attenberger, older people in particular are losing their homes more and more often.

In Dorfen, the specialist office for the prevention of homelessness was set up.

The procedure is often comparable: "Landlords register their own needs, so they give notice to long-term tenants," say the two social workers from Dorfen.

Of course, there are still rent arrears as a reason for termination.

Many families on the fringes of society are still starving in the Erding district - people who live on the subsistence level due to physical or mental illnesses, often receive social assistance or work in the low-wage sector.

"There is juggling with the rent to plug holes in the household, for example when the washing machine or the car breaks down - or when the children go to the school camp." But for several years it has also become difficult for middle-income workers, one Finding an apartment if the job was terminated for personal use, says the Caritas employee.

Fischer and Attenberger provide advice and support to citizens in the district of Erding who are threatened with homelessness or have become homeless.

This work is carried out in close cooperation with those responsible in the municipalities.

Initially, the offer was financed from December 2020 to December 2021 with a temporary special grant from the Ministry of Social Affairs.

This funding expired at the end of 2021.

In order to continue to be able to maintain the Caritas offer, all communities in the district have now made a financial contribution and set up a "Specialist Unit for the Prevention of Homelessness", which is financed with 55 cents per inhabitant per year.

"The municipalities lack the time and the capacity to take care of it themselves," explains Attenberger.

In any case, the need is great.

From the beginning of January to the end of March 2022 alone, 27 people contacted Caritas.

In 2021 there were a total of 88 people who were acutely threatened by housing shortages.

The pandemic has further aggravated the situation.

"However, there were only a few very large corona victims," ​​sums up Attenberger.

The focus is on many seniors, for whom losing their home is often tantamount to being uprooted.

Or single mothers and their children.

In general, the topic of separation is becoming more and more present: "The money is usually not enough for two apartments.

That's a very big problem.

There are fates behind it.” People usually seek help too late, complains Fischer: “The topic of homelessness is still very shameful.”

After a termination, Fischer and Attenberger try to negotiate with the landlords, look for alternatives, for example in assisted living or retirement homes and of course “the right match for new apartments”.

The two Caritas employees say that the opportunities for their clientele are very limited.

Nevertheless, the team was able to record successes: "We were able to prevent 34 citizens and their families from becoming homeless last year," Attenberger says happily.

What do the two Caritas employees wish for?

More adequate and affordable housing.

"Of course there are a number of new development areas in Dorfen or Erding - but for many citizens the rent is far too expensive."

In addition, there would now be rising heating, electricity and fuel costs.

"Anyone who is dependent on the car because, for example, they live behind St. Wolfgang and already live on the subsistence level anyway, will quickly reach their limits," says Fischer.

And here the circle closes: "The less money a family has, the more likely it is to juggle the rent."

Source: merkur

All news articles on 2022-03-31

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