The Sostre Project, located on the ground floor of 44 Pescadors Street, provides shelter 365 nights a year for six Barceloneta residents who live permanently on the neighborhood’s streets and who, due to their personal circumstances, are unable to use other available resources.
At Sostre, there are 50 of us who divide up our schedules to commit to one night a month, during which we reopen the green door, play dominoes or chat for a while, then have dinner—prepared with love for the neighbors—and watch a bit of television…and sleep in a room.
At 7 a.m. the next morning, a social worker takes over, and with her, the residents have breakfast, receive personalized psychological and healthcare support, regularize their paperwork, and, if they wish, participate in activities in Santa Lluïsa de Marillach during the day. Over time, the relationship established at Sostre between residents, dinner and night volunteers, and the social worker allows the former to be referred to better-equipped social services. Every time a resident leaves, another comes in, because unfortunately, the reality of homelessness continues to grow.
33 years of Sostre
Driven by the neighborhood’s own residents, under the auspices of the Parish of San Miguel del Puerto, Sostre has survived for 33 years in fragile conditions. Its survival depends on many factors, economic and human, but above all, human. Everything in Sostre continues to depend on the goodwill of the residents of La Barceloneta, just as it did at the beginning of the project.
The level of loyalty of Sostre volunteers is very high because the level of personal fulfillment it brings is also very high, especially when compared to the minimal interference it generates in our daily lives. It’s just one night a month to experience—together with another volunteer—a different reality in which we contribute and receive great value.
50 neighbors
Because life often drags us along without opening up spaces for us to leave our “little world,” and this leaves us doubting the meaning of everything; it is then that opening a small crack—like a green door—to welcome and be welcomed into another reality fills us, frees us, and clarifies us.
There are fifty of us who frequently celebrate having met and connected solely through the bond of goodwill… and it’s that bond that often, overly accustomed to individualistic and self-centered relationships, heals us from our own loneliness. There are fifty of us, but we should be more, because inevitably some of us are getting older, and it’s necessary for new energy to enter Sostre. Cheer up, we all need it… and maybe you do too!
