Number of homeless nearly triples in Rio

“We're people whose only right is the right not to have any. We're society's dirt, which our leaders want to sweep under the carpet.” That is how homeless people are seen by society, according to social worker Maralice dos Santos, who lived on the streets for three years and now heads the National Homeless People Movement (Portuguese: Movimento Nacional de População em Situação de Rua), in Rio de Janeiro.

Dos Santos works with this public on a daily basis, and says more and more individuals are being forced to sleep outdoors due to the unemployment and the economic crisis facing the state. “Whole families are turning to the streets after losing their homes due to lack of employment, and are joining those already living on the streets,” she recounted.

Her statement is confirmed by official figures. The number of people who spend the night on the streets of the city is estimated to have increased more than 150% over the last three years. Last year, homeless people amounted to 14.2 thousand in the state capital—and Rio's 62 shelters, with their 2,115 beds, cannot house 20% of this population.

“There are no homes or shelters enough for all those people. The ones available struggle with precarious conditions, and people are mistreated. Those who have been there wouldn't return. The homeless person has no voice in the institutions; it's what the educator dictates that counts—and neither of the two is heard,” Dos Santos argued. In a place where the homeless should feel welcome and protected, she went on to say, violence and rights violations are recurrent.

Edmílson Azevedo Santos, 47, has lived on the streets for nearly four years and a half. “I lost both my family and my home because of drugs. To live on the streets is like living as an animal. We're treated like animals. I've always been hard-working, but drugs forced me out to the streets,” he said.

Social worker Carla Lima helps homeless people in northern Rio under the Family Health Program. She notes that the number of women sleeping on the streets has risen sharply in recent years. “When the Doctor's Outdoor Office Program was launched six years ago, 80% of these people were men. Today, the number of men and women seeking help from us is virtually the same. Unemployment is still a major issue, because there isn't much of an option. They're expelled and end up turning to the streets with their children.”

Lack of public policies

Public defender Carla Beatriz Nunes Maia has worked with the homeless for years, and reports that people living on the streets now number over 15 thousand. The figure is based on the increase in the amount of people looking for assistance at the units linked to the Defender's Office directed at them. The presence of families in this situation has also become more conspicuous, she remarked. “I talked to a couple with a one-month-old baby the other day. They couldn't register the child, as they had no proof of residence. They're punished twice, and the child becomes an easy target for abduction.”

Nunes argues that the lack of public policies aimed at former inmates and the socially vulnerable contributes to the rise in the number of homeless people. Likewise, the lack of policies for those who already live on the streets aggravates the problem.

As an example, she mentioned the close-down of the Centro Pop Bárbara Calazans, an agency under the Social Work Secretariat that provided the homeless with food, documents, socialization, and education during the day. “That was where these citizens could build connections. They would often learn to fly on their own after that. The headquarters were removed in the previous government. If operational, this center can rescue a lot of people from the streets.” The institution is still functional, even though its headquarters were closed down over two years ago.

Clélia Blanco, also a public defender and coordinator at the Advanced Civil Identification Station for the Homeless and the Vulnerable, has had the opportunity to help homeless people from three different generations in public initiatives. The center where she works was created two years ago by the state-controlled Human Rights Defense Center (NUDEDH), and issues documents like birth certificates and ID cards free of charge, in collaboration with DETRAN, the state transport department.

“There are no programs directed at these people, so they can have a home, a job. The document issue is key to bringing dignity to these people. Without an ID or a birth certificate, they can't find a formal job, or have a tax-payer number issued, or an elector's card—documents that make citizens' exercise of their rights and duties possible,” she stated.

New efforts

Municipal Secretary for Social Work and Human Rights Teresa Bergher maintains that, since she took office five months ago, the situation of shelters for the homeless has improved considerably. Monitoring efforts and professional training have been intensified. She admits the number of shelters is not enough to meet the current demand, but she believes in reintegrating these people into society.

“We need more shelters, but bringing them over isn't enough. We need to show them the way out. We have a low number of social educators today, because of the crisis, but we're having them trained,” Bergher declared.

She further said that the Centro Pop will be given new headquarters downtown later this year. “The project's ready, there's just paperwork to be done on the costs for the beginning of the construction work, but I believe the Centro Pop will be brought back to operation in three months at the most.” She also noted that a partnership is being considered to have a bus with showers, services, and activities for the homeless circulate around the city.

Another goal set by the secretariat is to strengthen the Back Home Program (De Volta à Terra Natal, in the original Portuguese), aimed at helping the homeless go back to their families and cities of origin.

Raquel Júnia from Radiojornalismo contributed to this article.

Translated by Fabrício Ferreira