Heat relief for Berlin's homeless starts

Water bottles, hygiene products and sunscreen are on display in a recreation room in an emergency shelter run by Hitzehilfe for homeless people.

With the meteorological start of summer, Hitzehilfe (heat relief) for homeless people in Berlin began on Sunday.

They can then seek protection from the blazing sun and particularly high temperatures in special rooms, as Social Affairs Senator Cansel Kiziltepe (SPD) announced. Social workers are also out and about in the city distributing water and sun protection to the homeless.

Water bottles, sunscreen and cool rooms

"Heat can be life-threatening, especially for people living on the streets," emphasized Kiziltepe. "With heat relief, we are creating important services quickly and unbureaucratically, be it distributing water bottles and sun cream or opening cool rooms, for example in churches." Around 300,000 euros are available for these services. Berliners are called upon to look out for homeless people who are sitting unprotected in the sun and need help.