01 June 2023
From 15 November 2022 to 15 April 2023, during the coldest months of winter in Luxembourg, 21 professionals in the field welcomed 1,559 different homeless people for 151 days and 150 nights. The 250 beds that make up the multifunctional Findel emergency structure will now be open to Winter Action beneficiaries from mid-November each year.
“Our associative partnership has now been active for more than two years. By bringing together and pooling the experience of our partner members Caritas Luxembourg, Croix-Rouge luxembourgeoise and Inter-Actions, we have been working together since January 2021 to meet the daily challenges and respond to the emergencies that punctuate the Winteraktioun. This season has been marked by an increase of opening time : 5 months that allow us to be as close as possible to our beneficiaries in order to meet their primary needs and offer them dignified shelter during the coldest months in Luxembourg“, Marc Crochet, President of the Dräieck asbl since June 2022.
Teams of professionals turn 7 days a week during the winter months to provide temporary accommodation and distribute meals and essential hygiene products. The Wanteraktioun also offers a place to rest during the day, socio-educational activities, access to healthcare with medical consultations[1], an emergency cloakroom and a social follow-up and counselling service.
“This season, we welcomed an average of 180 people per night, carried out 336 social monitoring operations, distributed 15,249 lunches, 54,028 breakfasts and dinners, and 698 items of clothing thanks to the emergency cloakroom. In addition, 63 different beneficiaries were able to take part in a variety of socio-educational activities”, explains Cyrielle Chibaeff, in charge of the direction of Dräieck asbl.
The Day Shelter, open from 12 noon to 4pm, offers a hot meal, a place to rest and an emergency wardrobe, and organises socio-educational activities useful for social inclusion and integration.
The Foyer de Nuit, open from 7.15pm to 8.45am, welcomes beneficiaries for overnight accommodation, organises evening meals and breakfast, distributes personal hygiene materials, ensures access to showers and offers support.
The field coordination is open from 11.30am to 4pm: the registration of beneficiaries, the organisation of individual social follow-up, referral to specialised services with the support of an internal and external network if necessary or the planning of medical care are part of the daily tasks.
[1] Medical consultations are provided by Doctors of the World, nurses from the Luxembourg Red Cross Help network and Caritas Luxembourg’s Santé communautaire project.
The volunteer team of the Dräieck a.s.b.l. works actively alongside the professionals in the field to serve meals and hygiene products to the beneficiaries of the Winteraktioun. Their caring presence and ongoing commitment are an important pillar and guarantee the smooth running of the WAK. The warm and friendly atmosphere that the volunteers help to create with their dynamism and motivation also helps those in need. 96 active volunteers took part in the 22/23 Wanteraktioun season, offering 5,411 hours of voluntary work, an average of more than 36 hours a day.
The Wanteraktioun is supported and funded by the Ministère de la Famille, de l’Intégration et à la Grande Région.