A homeless person who was sleeping on the street in the Santa Eugènia neighborhood, in Girona, suffered a physical assault on February 22 and had to be admitted to the ICU of the Josep Trueta hospital.
The attack has focused attention on a paradox that the neighborhood association has been highlighting from the neighborhood. The case has generated attention on homelessness, but its president, Albert Quintana, maintains that the reaction should not translate into citizen alarm, but rather into more support and resources for those who live on the street.
The neighborhood asked for municipal support to help homeless people
Quintana, president of the Associació de Veïns de Santa Eugènia, explained this Thursday that the assault has caused "alertness and expectation" regarding the situation of homeless people in the area. At the same time, he assured that the events have left "a lot of awareness in the neighborhood" about who lives on the street and why they end up there.
"It should not generate citizen alarm, but rather see how we can accompany and help" - Albert Quintana, president of the Associació de Veïns de Santa Eugènia
The neighborhood entity is demanding more resources to address this reality. Specifically, in Santa Eugènia they have requested a municipal technician for the Civic Center and also that the outreach team for homeless people visit there on some occasions.
Quintana says neighbors are now more sensitive after the assault
The neighborhood representative believes it is still difficult to say whether the assault has clearly changed the attitude of the neighborhood's residents. Even so, he admits that neighbors have become more sensitive after the attack.
His reflection places the case beyond the violent episode. Quintana frames what happened as a call to collaborate with people in vulnerable situations and not just as a security problem in Santa Eugènia.
In that vein, he argued that the response involves getting involved in situations of exclusion. "It could happen to any of us," said Albert Quintana, president of the Associació de Veïns de Santa Eugènia.