Rising demand strains Klagenfurt emergency shelter

Caritas’s emergency shelter in Klagenfurt recorded 4,627 overnight stays from January to September, nearly 12 percent more than in the same period last year. The organisation is worried about meeting demand this winter and says it needs more staff, ORF reported.

The Eggerheim shelter has 30 beds for men and 10 for women. Caritas director Ernst Sandriesser said demand for emergency beds had risen partly because affordable housing was hard to find. Some people wait months for an apartment that has been promised to them to become available, he said.

Sandriesser said the shelter needs two more employees to support residents and help them move into housing. Its social workers are generally successful in this work, he said, but rising numbers make it harder to provide qualified care. The organisation needs about 200,000 euros in additional funding each year.

Municipalities in Carinthia are responsible for people without a roof over their heads, Sandriesser said, but homeless people often go to the state capital. Caritas has a good working relationship with Klagenfurt and is also in talks with the state and other municipalities, as people come to the city from across the region. Donations have made it possible to help everyone so far, he said, but the organisation is concerned about whether it can continue to do so.

Caritas’s cold-weather hotline will reopen on November 1. People who see someone sleeping outdoors can call 0463 39 60 60 daily from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. The hotline received 119 reports last winter.