The SamuSocial now fully at work at the Kohl building of the European Parliament, used as a temporary residence for women in a difficult situation in the context of the COVID-19, in Brussels.

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Infoclip: Covid-19 - EP Kohl building used as a temporary residence for women in a difficult situation in the context of the COVID-19: Samu Social now fully at work

Title: Infoclip: Covid-19 - EP Kohl building used as a temporary residence for women in a difficult situation in the context of the COVID-19: Samu Social now fully at work

SOUNDBITE (French),   S&#233;bastien ROY, Directeur G&#233;n&#233;ral Samu Social, The question of the duration of accommodation

SOUNDBITE (French), Valentine CALISTO, Samu social coordinator, The positive point of this refectory is to allow social distancing, the tables themselves and the whole space. As we will welcome maximum 100 people in this centre and as we spread the meals over two hours, finally there will never be 60 people at the same time in this refectory; that's the goal of this installation here and in the Parliament to be able to reduce the flow in the previous places where non-promiscuity was not respected both in the rooms and in the common areas

SOUNDBITE (French), Anonymous hosted person, We are used to staying with 3, 6, 10 sometimes in the same room. Being with a certain intimacy is already something very positive. It is a very beautiful place, very clean; The people here are very kind, they are there to help us. We have rules to follow for confinement but that's for everyone. We are lucky to have the park right in front; if we want to go out for a while, we just have to cross the street. We can walk a little in the park and it's good for keeping a good mood.

SOUNDBITE (French), S&#233;bastien ROY, Directeur G&#233;n&#233;ral Samu Social, The first proposal came from the European Parliament and was addressed to the Region The President of the Parliament had suggested that in the 3 cities where the European Parliament has offices, they become a support for the most excluded, in Brussels, Luxembourg and Strasbourg. When we learned this proposition, we contacted Parliament very quickly; and that's how the collaboration started

SOUNDBITE (French), S&#233;bastien ROY, Directeur G&#233;n&#233;ral Samu Social, The transformation of the offices of the Parliament into bedrooms was suggested by the social Samu because we have a long experience in fitting out offices into accommodation spaces. This is often how we do it. The collaboration was done fairly quickly. As we were very happy with the space provided, we knew we could go very quickly with a very high quality .

SOUNDBITE (French), S&#233;bastien ROY, Directeur G&#233;n&#233;ral Samu Social, All the equipment is brought by the social samu, as well as the staff; For us, this is the most important, the "know-how". We found the staff we transferred here. And everything related to meals, canteen and space is provided by the European Parliament; and I must say that the collaboration went very well; Parliament has been very effective in terms of redeveloping space because they had to do some work and it was done very quickly. Both teams have been very responsive

SOUNDBITE (French), S&#233;bastien ROY, Directeur G&#233;n&#233;ral Samu Social, Regarding covid-19, we are testing all the women who will be transferred here and and come only women who have been tested negative.

SOUNDBITE (French), S&#233;bastien ROY, Directeur G&#233;n&#233;ral Samu Social, We have centers that welcome families, which are specifically aimed at families. There are no plans to host families here

SOUNDBITE (French), S&#233;bastien ROY, Directeur G&#233;n&#233;ral Samu Social, Concerning the duration of this accommodation, the Convention which was signed between the European Parliament, the Samu social and the region of Brussels-capital is valid until the end of July. But obviously in our thinking and our discussions, today we are already thinking about post-containment. What will happen after the 30th June ? During July ? Will we decide to go on and continue, it is a bit too early to answer, but obviously it's a question we all ask. Our priority is to secure the reception of people who will be accommodated here

SOUNDBITE (French), Valentine CALISTO, Samu social coordinator, We tried to multiply the waiting, support, rest and activities spaces in the centre to respect the social distanciation and to allow a good flow between all the women. We are here in the TV room, It's going to be a bit more comfortable place, with armchairs supplied to us by the European Parliament. All the furniture here was provided by the European Parliament.

SOUNDBITE (French), Valentine CALISTO, Samu social coordinator, Here, at the centre De Meeus for women, as for all centre, we are going to have a medical team with nurses and care-givers who will be present 24H/24.  We will have psychologists who will come here to do permanence and we have social assistants who are present 24/24 as well to answer different demands, either listening requests or requests or social initiatives linked to their departure.