The 18 Help Centers of the Italian railway stations have carried out 473 thousand interventions assistance to people in difficulty in 2020. This is what emerges from the report of the Observatory of Solidarity in Italian Stations (ONDS) presented yesterday by Alessandro Radicchi, director of the ONDS, at the headquarters of the FS Italiane Group.
The number of operations, down compared to 2019, was conditioned by the closure of some operations centers due to the pandemic. Instead, the demand for basic necessities to be distributed increased.
They revolted 15.676 people to the Help Centers during 2020, a 30% drop compared to 2019 presumably due to the difficulties caused by the pandemic. Among these, new users (people who have asked for help in the Help Center for the first time) even if numerically lower than last year, are 52% of the annual total, demonstrating how the percentage of first aid has increased from 24% of 2019 to 28% in 2020.
The majority of aid was provided to foreigners, 11.587, of which 1.405 from EU countries and 9.255 from non-EU countries. The largest number of users are men, with 82% (12.540) and 18% women (2.758), 26 of whom are transgender.
In 2020 there were over 424 thousand "low threshold" interventions (delivery of basic necessities, meals, clothes, blankets, etc.) and 49 thousand those of social support and orientation. Overall the surgeries fell by 9% compared to 2019, due to the elimination of more than half of the guidance interventions.
The 18 Help Centers have within them listening desks which direct people in difficulty towards specialized associations, reception centers and therapeutic communities, in order to help them reintegrate into society. The premises used for these recovery activities are made available by FS Italiane and are coordinated by local charitable associations.
