We have been living in Arad for almost 13 years and we have seen a great deal of change, much of it for the better. However, homelessness continues to be a big issue here as elsewhere in Romania. Many of the original street children with whom we first worked are still here though of course after 13 years they are no longer children, they are now ' street adults'. There are also homeless older people for whom there is very little provision - some of them have heard of our day centre and come along for a meal and a shower and out of compassion for them we cannot refuse.
What are we supposed to do with such people? There is a desperate need for a Work to be set up specifically for homeless adults, leaving us to concentrate on the street children and on prevention strategies. The State Social Services here in Arad are already overstretched, understaffed and underfunded so there is unlikely to be help coming from that quarter. Clearly we are unable to move in that direction as we too are already overstretched - so my question is, who will do it?
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