In icy cold weather How you can help the homeless in Bonn
Bonn · During the winter, homeless people are particularly at risk. Especially when temperatures drop below freezing, everyone should keep an eye on people sleeping outside and provide help in emergencies.
The winter in Bonn and the region is around the corner and is a particularly hard time for homeless people. If the temperatures fall below freezing, people who sleep outside are exposed to the risk of freezing to death. The city of Bonn therefore appeals to people to pay attention to those in need and to call for help in an emergency.
Information about homeless people in need of help can be given to the police around the clock and to the hotline of the City Security Service on 0228/773333 from Monday to Friday between 7 a.m. and 1 a.m. as well as on Saturdays, Sundays and public holidays between 10 a.m. and 1 a.m. The office can be contacted by e-mail at stadtordnungsdienst@bonn.de.
Shelters for the homeless
Homeless men in Bonn can find refuge around the clock in the emergency overnight shelter in the Prelat-Schleich-Haus of the Caritas Association in Thomastraße 36, where they can stay overnight and receive food. Every day from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Caritas also offers all homeless people the chance to stay in the City Station building. On frosty nights, the offer also extends to the night time, but dogs are not allowed. As Caritas explains on request, they have an agreement with the Bonn animal shelter, where four-legged friends can be left for the night and collected the next morning.
A further shelter for homeless people is provided by the Association for Persons at Risk (VFG), which runs the emergency shelter “Haus Sebastian”, Sebastianstraße 131 for the city of Bonn. This can accommodate up to 80 women and men who cannot be or who are no longer accepted in other facilities for the homeless in Bonn.
Admission to the house is only possible by allocation. This is issued by the Office for Social and Housing Issues, Stadthaus, Berliner Platz 2, floor 3C, on Mondays and Thursdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. and on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.. Outside these hours, those in need can obtain a one-off allocation from the Joint Contact Point (GABI) of the Bonn City Police and Security Services at Maximilianstraße 32.
The VFG also offers a contact café at Quantiusstrasse 2 as a place to stay on cold nights, where homeless and addicts, mostly drug addicts, can warm up and exchange information. In addition, breakfast and a hot meal are offered.
Where can I make donations in kind?
According to the VFG, donations in kind such as thermal mats or sleeping bags are always in demand. The current needs can be obtained by calling 0228/7259126.
The homeless aid of the Caritas Association accepts donations of thermal mats and sleeping bags at the entrance gate of the Prälat-Schleich-Haus.
The central warehouse for donations in kind in Bonn is also calling for donations of sleeping bags, thermal mats and blankets for the needy during the cold months. Which donations are accepted and what the actual needs are can be found on the association’s website.
(Original text: ga.de, translation John Chandler)
