© dpa
A new emergency shelter for male homeless people with addictions is now open all year round in Berlin.
The Berlin St John's emergency overnight shelter called "Ohlauer 365" is located near Görlitzer Park and offers 88 sleeping places, as the social administration announced on Monday. The sleeping places are available from 8 pm to 8 am.
The accommodation is located in a former school building on Ohlauer Straße in the Friedrichshain-Kreuzberg district. The project is being financed by the social administration with a total of 2.7 million euros in the 2024/2025 double budget. Previously, the centre was only open between November and April as part of Berlin's cold weather aid and offered meals and shower days during the summer months.
The new year-round service, which opened on Monday, also offers multilingual social counselling in cooperation with the drug and addiction support service of the ‘Fixpunkt’ association and regular medical consultations. ‘The aim of these services is to show people with a wide range of problems, addictions and other illnesses possible ways out of their circumstances and to actively support them,’ explained the social administration. People seeking protection without addiction problems are also welcome in the shelter.