Cologne fights homelessness: Kalle Gerigk demands solutions!

Am Kölner Neumarkt diskutieren Politiker und Aktivisten Lösungen gegen Obdachlosigkeit und soziale Ungleichheit.
At the Cologne Neumarkt, politicians and activists discuss solutions against homelessness and social inequality. (Symbolbild/MK)

Cologne fights homelessness: Kalle Gerigk demands solutions!

Neumarkt, Köln, Deutschland - At the Cologne Neumarkt, everything revolves around a topic that is increasingly focusing on urban politics: homelessness. With hundreds of emails and photos, public pressure has increased to fix the grievances in the city. According to Express , a panel discussion of the Cologne press club e.V. was recently held. Above all, the design and use of public space in a diverse urban society was discussed using the example of the Neumarkt.

The event not only took place in the meeting rooms - before the discussion there was a rally, initiated by Kalle Gerigk, a rental rebellion. Under the motto "End homelessness, do not displace" he called for a rethink in urban politics. Gerigk sees homelessness as an expression of social inequality and called not to simply displace the affected people, but to give them real support.

A look at reality

Reality for many homeless people in Cologne is depressing. Carol Teitz, who took part in the discussion, pointed out that you can observe every day in the city how homeless people live under inhuman conditions and often die. Michael Neumann criticized the existing implementation deficits in the city when it comes to actually fighting homelessness. Jens Reckort agreed and underlined the tolerance of the company towards this misery, which, however, does not lead to a solution.

The challenges are numerous: from impairing and poor hygiene to dramatic health consequences such as loneliness and drug addiction - the facets of homelessness are diverse and threatening. Studies show that homeless people are often discriminated against and pushed to the brink of society. These tendencies intensify at a time when political movements such as Pegida attract further social rubbish.

innovative approaches from Cologne

An important step to improve the current situation is the "Cologne concept to combat homelessness", which was presented by the city administration. As the city of Cologne reports on its website, the concept aims to prevent apartment losses and to improve help for people in housing shortage. Among other things, the establishment of a night café, the introduction of case management and a social housing agency that should support people in emergency accommodation in access to the regular housing market are planned.

that of Dr. Harald Rau, deputy for social affairs, health and living, should expand the existing aid system and make it more effective. One core destination remains to bring homeless people to their own apartments, and to integrate the promising "Housing First" approach, to actively tackle homelessness instead of just managing them.

Whether the city of Cologne is on the right track will show time. However, it is certain that the voices from the population become louder and require real changes. It is high time to understand the challenges in combating homelessness as a task as a whole - because nobody should be left in a city like Cologne.

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OrtNeumarkt, Köln, Deutschland
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