Mother D'água Accommodation Center: Structuring Processes

The phenomenon of people experiencing homelessness is of extreme complexity and multidimensionality, requiring an intervention focused on the set of problems that characterize it, both in terms of housing and issues related to family, social, economic, unemployment, or mental health problems. It was to provide an immediate response to people in this situation, in unstable housing or at risk of losing their home, that the Mãe d'Água Temporary Housing Center (CATMA) was established in January 2000. Created and coordinated by the Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa to provide temporary and emergency accommodation to vulnerable individuals, CATMA expanded its scope in 2009 with the establishment of a reception service for single-parent families headed by women: CATMA - Extension. Taking a brief look at the assumptions of this facility, its objectives, and the conclusions of experts on work in this area of social emergency, this pamphlet succinctly informs the reader about the foundational structure and principles of the work at CATMA, also illustrating how it is operationalized on the ground. This book is part of the Social Action Sebentas Collection, an editorial line dedicated to sharing knowledge acquired and consolidated through practice, with the awareness, however, that this knowledge is always in a state of continuous construction and improvement.

Authors: Rita Valadas (dir.); Celeste Brissos (coord.); Rui Santos; Ana Pato and team

Year of publication: 2016
Publisher: SCML
ISBN: 9789898712424