Minister for Social Housing Accommodation Roderick Galdes, together with the Director of Caritas Malta Anthony Gatt, announced a new specialized housing project this morning through which women formerly suffering from drug addiction challenges will be assisted. Through the Housing Authority, the government will be investing the sum of €289,454—which includes value added tax (VAT)—which will help in carrying out the necessary works in this house.
Mothers, adults, and young women who complete their drug rehabilitation programme at Dar Et-Iris, a building within San Blas, often find it difficult to reintegrate back in society. Through this home, these women will be able to receive the necessary help they deserve.
Minister Roderick Galdes reiterated that everyone has the right to decent accommodation. “We are giving these individuals a decent home. That is why these projects are so dear to me because we are not just constructing another building,” claimed Minister Roderick Galdes.
This specialized housing will not only be offering specialized services that go hand in hand with the national housing system, but the site’s design and planning will also be sustainable, innovative, and subsequently designed and adapted to match the services to be rendered therein, Minister Galdes explained.
In fact, construction works in this house will include demolition and reconstruction so that the property will include common areas for relaxation and group social activities as well as a variety of individual apartments comprising of one/two bedrooms with some rooms being able to accommodate mothers with children. As they make use of this specialized housing, the progress made by residents will continue to be closely monitored.
The Director of Caritas Malta, Mr Anthony Gatt, thanked the Housing Authority for this commitment and explained that this project will be connecting all the nodes in the proverbial chain in terms of rehabilitation services for women: “When a woman decides to undergo a drug rehabilitation programme, after months of therapy and working with the person, we had a lacuna within the service provision, as obstacles are encountered if the individual is homeless and without a supporting family. The situation of these women is precarious especially when it comes to reintegrating with their children.”
Mr Gatt concluded that for persons to be eligible for this service, they must not have alternative accommodation or need to live independently due to having an unhealthy family/social environment, do not have enough means to support themselves, and require extra support to get back up on their feet in the critical phase of reintegration back in society until they save enough money to own property or can pay rent in the private market, perhaps with the aid of subsidies from the Housing Authority.
