December 3, 2018 – Could Rijeka be A Place to Call Home for everyone? We are honored to welcome Dame Louise Casey, a former British government official most known for her work on issues relating to homelessness and social welfare.
This afternoon the Primorsko-Goranska county prefect Zlatko Komadina will meet with Dame Louise Casey and Sr. Veronika Mila Popić to discuss Rijeka’s involvement in the Institute for Global Homelessness’s initiative A Place to Call Home.
Casey has been a driving force in the establishment of the Chicago-based IGH, and is now the Institute’s advisory committee chairwoman, while Popić is a Sister of Charity of St. Vincent Depaul, head of Rijeka House of Refuge, and Chief Executive Officer of Depaul International Croatia whose work, among other things, includes preparation and implementation of a long-term strategic framework for addressing homelessness in Rijeka and other parts of Croatia.
The praiseworthy initiative aims to end global street homelessness by the year 2030, and on June 13th this year Rijeka announced its position as the 5th official Vanguard City in the IGH’s campaign A Place to Call Home. Along with Sr. Veronika, effort in Rijeka is spearheaded by Head of the County Social Policy Department and Youth Dragica Marač, while cooperation in this project was signed by Primorsko-Goranska County, Rijeka Archdiocese, City of Rijeka, and the local Center for Social Welfare, with Depaul Croatia as the key coordinating body.
Rijeka is among those cities in which homelessness is expected to be significantly reduced or completely solved by the year 2020 and today’s meeting between Dame Louise Casey, county officials, and service providers aims to outline plans to achieve that goal.
Depaul began work in Croatia in 2018 in response to the need for more comprehensive homelessness services and it operates in Rijeka supporting hundreds of the city’s homeless, vulnerable and disadvantaged population. Depaul’s Rijeka day center is opened seven days a week and offers a range of support options from meals to hygiene to counseling, but also runs targeted services, facilitating healthcare treatment for homeless people.
You can find out more about Depaul’s work in Croatia on their official page. Also, make sure you don’t miss more such stories by following our news page.
