With the forecast of another cold dawn in the capital of São Paulo this Saturday (20), the City Hall of São Paulo and the State Government will promote actions to welcome homeless people and in social vulnerability this night.
The measures have already been adopted throughout the week, when the city felt the drop in thermometers caused by a new cold front coming from the south of the country and which led the Civil Defense to declare a state of alert for low temperatures throughout the municipality.
According to the forecast by the City Hall’s Center for Climate Emergency Management (CGE), thermometers should reach 8ºC during the night of this Friday (19), in São Paulo, with the possibility of the thermal sensation reaching 3ºC due to the winds.
About 31,800 people live on the streets in the capital, according to a survey by the city hall itself released in January this year. According to the Executive, this population grew 31% in the city in two years, which corresponds to 7,540 people – similar to people in the same conditions in Rio de Janeiro.
Solidarity nights
The cold led the government’s Social Development and Metropolitan Transport departments to reactivate, for the third time this year, the Solidarity Nights shelter. The space is set up in the underground part of the Pedro II metro station. On Thursday (18), 21 people slept at the place.
The accommodation will be open again this Friday night, from 19:00. Access is via Rua da Figueira, in Bairro Sé, central region of the city. The venue can accommodate up to 400 people. They receive mattresses, blankets, a free meal and hygiene kits.
Also according to the Department of Social Development, the sheltered are taken the next day to have breakfast at the 25 de Março unit of Restaurante Bom Prato.
According to the government’s balance sheet, in the other two editions of the action — one held in May and the other in June — a total of 304 people were welcomed. The Solidarity Nights shelter supports Operação Baixas Temperature, a municipal campaign focused on protecting the homeless against the cold.
Low Temperature Operation
The City of São Paulo reported that, since midweek, it has been taking steps to welcome and provide thermal comfort to the most vulnerable through the Operação Baixas Temperatures campaign, which began in April and ends on September 30.
Between Wednesday (17) and Thursday, the Municipal Secretariat for Assistance and Social Development (SMADS) sent more than 300 to the social assistance network in the capital.
To strengthen the protection of the homeless population in extreme cold, the municipal management works with tents throughout the city that work from 6 pm to midnight. The structures are assembled whenever the thermometers show at or below 10°C. For this operation, SPTrans provides round-trip transportation.
The location of the target audience is done through an active search by teams from the city hall, but also with the help of citizens through the channel 156, which activates municipal management services .
Distribution of blankets
Another strategy adopted by the municipal management, and which is also part of the Low Temperatures Operation, is the distribution of blankets by the Coordination of Social Emergency Care (CPAS) to the homeless in the city.
According to the Executive’s survey, since April this year, 1,728,101 receptions have been carried out in the services of the social assistance network (a person can be welcomed more than once), and more than 62,000 blankets have been distributed to homeless people.
How can I help you?
donations
Through the Winter Solidarity campaign, the government of São Paulo also works with donations of blankets from citizens and companies interested in helping. In this action, people from other municipalities are also benefited, because the donated content is distributed to other cities and assistance entities.
At the site campaign, people can find the nearest donation point by providing their zip code. But blanket deliveries can be made at collection points installed at train and subway stations, bus terminals of the Metropolitan Company of Urban Transport (EMTU) and Poupatempo units.
The initiative also has a bank account created for the purchase of blankets, which can be filled by volunteers. Account data can be accessed through the same link that takes you to the campaign website.
The city hall of the capital informs that people or companies wishing to make donations for Operation Low Temperatures should contact the administration via e-mail: [email protected]. In the body of the text, it is necessary to give the donation details.
Channel 156
People can also activate the city hall’s reception services through channel 156.
Weather forecast for the next few days
The forecast for the weekend in São Paulo is the permanence of the cold and humidity. The expectation is that the thermometers record the lowest minimum temperature in winter this year: a minimum of 8°C and a maximum of 13°C on Saturday, and a minimum of 9°C and a maximum of 17°C on Sunday. The lowest temperature recorded in the city in 2022 was on May 20, in autumn: 6.3°C.
In addition to the cold, on Saturday the capital should remain with closed skies, with potential for drizzle in the early morning, early morning, late afternoon and early evening. On Sunday, there is still the possibility of light rain, but the sun may appear more intensely through the heavy clouds.
Source: CNN Brasil
