The Barraquer Foundation and the homeless

16/01/2020

From January 2020, as part of the ‘Mirem per tu’ project, the Barraquer Foundation is providing free ophthalmic and optometric care for users of the ASSIS shelter who have eyesight issues. Dr. Javier Elizalde, patron of the Barraquer Foundation and Jesús Ruiz, director of Assís, signed the partnership agreement on behalf of both organisations.

In Barcelona, there are currently 2,800 homeless people, 900 of whom sleep in the street during the day; the rest go to public and private shelters. The ASSÍS shelter has been working for the last 20 years in the Sarría neighbourhood with the aim of improving the well-being and quality of life of homeless people by providing special care to women at risk of becoming homeless. In doing so, the shelter designs programmes and projects aimed at meeting their needs: a decent home, training, occupational integration, healthcare and basic services. Each year, it takes care of over 1,700 people. ASSÍS is also working to make its cause visible in different areas of public life with numerous actions and campaigns to raise awareness.