The centre, which will be installed in a building provided by the Ministry of Agriculture, in Braciais, on the outskirts of Faro, will have 30 places for emergency accommodation, 20 of which are intended for temporary accommodation, for a period of three months, and a maximum capacity total to accommodate 49 people.

In a press conference, the president of the Movement to Support the Problem of AIDS (MAPS), the entity responsible for the project, said that the structure aims to welcome “people and families in situations of precariousness”, namely, in situations of homelessness, unemployment, subject to evictions or with loss of income.

According to Fábio Simão, there is no equipment in the Algarve with this type of "specific response" in the social area and the nine beds of temporary accommodation that MAPS has had since 1996 are "always insufficient".

The new centre will have four family rooms, prepared to receive up to four people, so that the families “can stay together”, and the creation of a space for the animals of the families that use the centre is also planned.

However, the building where the centre will be installed is vacant and needs major works, which is why Fábio Simão launched an appeal for the delivery of donations of material for toilets, electricity and floating floors, among others.

On the occasion, the Mayor of Faro, Rogério Bacalhau, underlined that the number of homeless people in the municipality "has worsened recently" due to the covid-19 pandemic.

According to the mayor, to the 30 homeless people who were referred and to be accompanied by the services of the municipality, there are now 22, some from Faro and others who moved to the municipality during the pandemic, which increased this population.

The centre, in a building with a floor area of ??1,200 square metres, will have 17 rooms, two living rooms, dining room, kitchen, laundry, changing rooms, technical and nursing offices and a room for professional training.

According to Fábio Simão, one of the objectives of the new structure is also to promote the professional insertion of the people who are hosted there, which is why it is planned to create a professional training centre in that space.

The protocol signed between MAPS, Social Security and the Faro City Council provides that the municipality financially supports the centre through the payment of the building's rent.