Learn about the new service channel established by the Bucaramanga Social Development Secretariat, to facilitate reports related to the presence of street residents in neighborhoods and public spaces, and deploy the institutional services required in each case.
Occupation of front gardens and fronts of commercial premises, waste and excrement disorders, theft of objects that make up the networks of public services and furniture in the city, micro-trafficking and drug addiction, are some of the problems that, according to the community, worsened in multiple sectors of Bucaramanga due to the large presence of street dwellers.
Since the beginning of this year, residents of neighborhoods such as Cabecera, Sotomayor, Mejoras Públicas, San Alonso, San Francisco, Centro, Alarcón, La Universidad, Galán and Quinta Dania, among others, have launched calls to the municipal administration in search of actions to timely attention to this situation.
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After the numerous messages received from various sectors of the population and after holding meetings with community leaders from the most affected neighborhoods, the Bucaramanga Mayor’s Office formulated a new service strategy and made available a new service channel, for citizens to report the problems related to homeless people and thus the services and interventions required in each case can be deployed in a timely manner.
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This is the ‘Empathy Line’, through which the residents of Bumagues can formally make this type of reports to the Local Government. The available cell phone number is 322 796 8223.
“Through WhatsApp, people can send these reports, so that the interdisciplinary group that we make up can attend, carry out deterrence and mobilization or the corresponding procedure. We Bumangueses lack empathy with this population group, who are also subjects of rights. We call for all of us to be part of the solution,” said Iván Darío Torres, Secretary of Social Development of the Bucaramanga Mayor’s Office.
They are directed to a transit home
After the adoption of the Social Public Policy for Street Dwellers in the country (Decree 1285 of 2022), it became clear that each citizen living on the streets can decide whether or not to begin a detoxification and rehabilitation process, if they arrive. to be required by the authorities.
In other words, no authority can try to force or coerce a street dweller to enter a halfway house or foundation for their recovery.
Through the ‘Empathy Line’, the Local Government addresses each reported case with the support of professionals, to initiate awareness-raising actions and institutional care. If the street dweller gives his approval, he is immediately transferred to an institution in charge of starting his detoxification.
“We began the interventions with a new transition home, to be able to finish characterizing this population and offer them all our services. From this home, they are then directed to intramural processes carried out by specialized entities,” Torres explained.
This transition home currently has the capacity to care for around 150 citizens in indigent conditions daily.
So far this year, according to the official report delivered by the Secretariat of Social Development, in Bucaramanga more than 1,300 services have been provided to homeless people, including personal hygiene and food brigades.
In the area between Los Niño Park and the Industrial University of Santander, UIS, the authorities increased their surveillance and attention tours in response to the requirements expressed by the communities.
“In recent days we had a working group with presidents of community action boards and councilors from various sectors. This phenomenon is not something new in the city, in many cases it is perceived that these citizens on the streets generate insecurity, but this is not the case,” indicated the Secretary of Local Development.
A characterization process advances
While providing care in various parts of the city, the Municipality carries out a process of registration and characterization of those people who live and wander through the streets of Bucaramanga.
The most recent data on a census of homeless people in the Santander capital was published in 2021, by Dane. In this study, it was specified that this vulnerable population in the ‘Beautiful City’ amounted to 1,448 citizens.
Civic leaders and community representatives consider that currently this population could be over two thousand people. It is important to point out that the Municipality does not have a precise figure in this regard.
“The characterization of street residents in Bucaramanga has not been done judiciously in recent years. According to Dane figures, 34% of them are dedicated to recycling, about 33% to begging and about 2.5% commit theft to obtain income,” the official reported.
Since the beginning of this month, the tours by the Ministry of Social Development have intensified in critical areas, such as the case of Quebradaseca Avenue. The authorities set a goal of attention in 2024.
“Bucaramanga today has one of the most robust programs in the country for the care of homeless people. Our brigades are going throughout the city in search of 1,000 more people to provide them with all the institutional attention,” said Jaime Andres Beltrán, mayor of the ‘Beautiful City’.
