Tamara Puigfell left behind four and a half years living on the street in the Seu Vella area of Lleida after entering the Housing First program, promoted by Paeria and Sant Joan de Déu. Five years later, she lives in a single-person dwelling, has been substance-free for two years, and is training as a socio-sanitary technician.
Her case summarizes a difficult-to-ignore gap between the magnitude of homelessness in the city and the impact that stable housing can have on reintegration processes. Arrels counts 237 homeless people and 1,400 without a home, while Puigfell assures that without that apartment she doesn't know how she would have ended up, adding that, probably, dead.
Tamara Puigfell went from the street in Seu Vella to five years of stability in a home
Puigfell explains that her decline began with drug addiction, that she lost custody of her son, and that she ended up moving from Tàrrega to Lleida. For four and a half years she lived on the street, in the Seu Vella area, until she accessed the municipal housing program.
Housing First facilitates access to single-person apartments for homeless people with the aim of promoting their social reintegration. In Puigfell's case, the change was not immediate, but it was sustained over time.
"When they asked me how I would see living in an apartment, I didn't believe it. I had lost hope" - Tamara Puigfell, participant in the Housing First program
As the years passed, the adaptation consolidated. She herself summarizes that evolution by stating that she has been substance-free for two years and is fully accustomed to the apartment, where she has also adopted a dog.
Initial support included daily routines and rent monitoring
Moving into a solitary dwelling required support with basic daily routine matters. Monitoring was also needed to normalize rent payment, a habit that Puigfell did not have after years outside the residential system.
"Starting life alone went very well for me, because it helped me stop consuming, but at first, I struggled to get used to it. They had to follow up with me to pay the rent due to lack of habit" - Tamara Puigfell, participant in the Housing First program
A social worker from the program summarizes that intervention approach by pointing out that solitude can become a tool for accompaniment. Individual housing is part of that approach, designed to stabilize the person first and then work on other areas of their life.
Now, Puigfell's itinerary no longer revolves around daily survival on the street. He is currently training as a socio-health technician, after five years in the program promoted by the Paeria and Sant Joan de Déu.