Switzerland/Lausanne opens 50 more beds to protect the homeless

With temperatures plummeting, Lausanne opened 50 emergency beds at the Rouvraie PC shelter on Saturday evening. This temporary measure is designed to protect the homeless from the freezing cold.

In view of the forecast temperatures and breezy weather, Lausanne will temporarily increase its emergency shelter capacity. From Saturday evening, the Rouvraie PC shelter will open, offering 50 additional beds to the existing system.

Like the other shelters, it will be open from 9:00 pm to 8:00 am. It will enable each person to have a snack, take a shower and sleep in a bed, the city announced on Friday.

This measure is temporary, in place for one week, and will be re-evaluated according to the weather. The City's priority is to reduce the risks associated with extreme hardship at a time when sub-zero night-time temperatures are descending on our country. As a reminder, Unisanté's Equipe mobile d'urgences sociales (EMUS) can be called on 0848 133 133 (on-call doctors' exchange) to report any homeless person sleeping outdoors.

The Rouvraie shelter will be operated by the Lausanne region's civil protection department, in collaboration with the local social inclusion and action service (SISP).

Several assistance schemes

The "Grand froid" plan is financed by the canton and communes via the participation in social cohesion. As a reminder, the emergency and transitional accommodation scheme has 239 places open all year round. It is part of a wider housing assistance scheme.

Lausanne also manages a municipal social housing assistance scheme. This offers more than 580 housing units with social support to people living in Lausanne in precarious situations, who have lost their housing or are about to lose it.

Source: www.blick.ch/