Courtesy of the French government, Manila’s street denizens will now have temporary shelter as Manila Mayor Lito Atienza and French Ambassador Gerard Chesnel jointly inaugurated a newly completed building at the Reception and Action Center (RAC) in Arroceros, Manila.
The new facility houses 25 double-deck beds and a wash area. It will provide temporary shelter to at least 100 street children, mendicants, vagrants, wayward youth, neglected and abandoned elderly, stranded, abused and displaced individuals who are found and rescued in the city of Manila.
The construction of the facility was financed by the French government and channeled through the Virlanie Foundation.
RAC is an auxiliary organization of the Manila Department of Social Welfare (DSW) and the Manila Police District. RAC provides social, administrative, dietary and medical services to about 500 persons including babies and elderlies as part of Atienza’s "Buhayin ang Maynila" program.
The Manila DSW conducts daily sweeps of the city’s streets to rescue street children and bring them home to their families or turn them over to proper agencies or institutions.
"The children do not belong to the streets, they have to be given proper care, sustenance and education, and this is what we will continuously strive to provide," said Atienza, who is also the national chairman and founder of Pro-Life Philippines.
|
