Winter homeless centres start to close

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Homeless centres across canton Geneva are now closing – although the associations running the centres say it’s too early and more still needs to be done. The main problem is money.

Already 60 people have been kicked out of their winter home and are now back on the street. On Friday, a further 120 will be outside again and a couple of weeks after that, the last winter shelter will close – meaning another 70 have nowhere to go. 

As volunteers point out – it’s not just the lack of indoor accommodation - once back on the street, many people will lose access to medical care and psychiatric support they’ve been receiving. 

This winter there were 577 places available – a record number – just over 300 will remain over the summer. It’s not enough. According to a study by the University of Geneva, the canton needs 730 places, and that’s before the Ukraine crises. 

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