The Councilor for Social Welfare of the Arrecife City Council, Maite Corujo, has spoken to Radio Lanzarote-Onda Cero about the dependency problems facing the island's capital.
"There is no resource in Lanzarote that welcomes families with children," she said on the air. "We see people with low resources on the street and we understand that it may be their own decision, or not, but I have families who come to the Area in very difficult situations, but for whom I don't have an answer," she added, "in Lanzarote there is no resource that welcomes children, the few resources we have are for adults."
After two months at the head of the Area, Maite Corujo accuses the difficulty of the population to access housing on the Island of Volcanoes of being "bleeding". In addition, she has denied that the majority of the homeless population does not want to be helped. "Many times the user himself prevents you from helping him, but that is not usually the tone," she said in the morning show Buenos días, Lanzarote.
In addition to the difficulty of finding a rental on the island, there are those owners who are reluctant to rent a house to families with children. "Not only is there no housing, but the little housing that there is, those who rent do not want families with children because they know that in the event of non-payment it is difficult for them to get the house back," she asserted. "It is the dog chasing its tail that we have to solve."
Lack of temporary resources
Maite Corujo has assured that the solutions that the City Council has been able to propose so far are temporary. "It's a matter of a couple of nights," she added. However, she knows that the council is not yet giving "an answer that solves the problem."
In addition, she has announced that the Arrecife Social Welfare area will be able to manage some of the social housing, under construction in Maneje.
At the same time that she is working on "having an immediate response resource" in the form of a shelter or homes in which minors can also be accommodated.
"People are living anywhere, in warehouses or premises. Everyone deserves to live in a dignified way under a roof, but we have no answer to that need. That's what we're working on," she told Radio Lanzarote.
The case of the soup kitchen
Maite Corujo has assured that the Arrecife soup kitchen "does not respond to the needs we usually have." At the same time, she pointed out that the user who visits this space is not only "low threshold", but that there is a new user.
A new group also comes to the Department of Social Welfare "the middle class that is diluting" and that is made up of those people who have a job and a home but cannot make ends meet. It is usually families."
In this line, she has assured that the current space, which is like a warehouse, does not give the response that she would like to offer. "We cannot put a psychologist, there are no separations," she explained.
Some families receive the dining room service at home so they don't have to go to the food center.
To conclude, the Councilor for Social Welfare has invited people in a vulnerable situation to go to the Social Services of the City Council. "They have the doors open and everything can be discussed and try to find solutions for what may be happening."