Presentation given by Jorge Nuño, Caritas Spain at a FEANTSA Conference on "Multiple Barriers, Multiple Solutions: Inclusion into and through Employment for People who are homeless ", Zaragoza, Spain, 2007

1. Where can people who are
homeless find employment?
Experience from Caritas Spain
Member of:

2. FEANTSA Conference – Zaragoza 2007
Let us have a short look at…
 The people with whom Caritas Spain is
working
 What is Caritas Spain doing in terms of
homlessness and employment
 A few questions and thoughts about
homlessness and employment

3. FEANTSA Conference – Zaragoza 2007
With whom are we working?
 Men +40 long term unemployed
But also, and increasingly:
 Migrants (Africa and East Europe)
 Irregular migrants!!!
 Young people
 Women
 Women who worked in prostitution
 Separated and divorced men
 Health problems: mental health, alcohol, drugs, etc.
 All of them come and ask for EMPLOYMENT.

4. FEANTSA Conference – Zaragoza 2007
What are we doing? (I)
General Frame
 Holistic approach: health, housing, leisure time,
community and family, …and employment.
 We work social-educational processes.
 Employment as a possible horizon on the long
term (social
exclusion).
 A lot of previous objectives: health, housing,
self-esteem, personal, social, labour skills (key
competences), social networks, etc.
 Also: social studies and social consciousness

5. FEANTSA Conference – Zaragoza 2007
What are we doing? (II)
Employability
 Personal Integration Pathways
 Development of personal, social and labour skills.
 Guidance (reference service and “life long guidance”)
 Vocational Training
 Employment
 Networking
 Protected Employment
 Social useful activities
 Social contracts
 Social enterprises
 Long term support (follow up, guidance, …)

6. FEANTSA Conference – Zaragoza 2007
Questions and thoughts (I)
 “Where can people who are homeless find
employment?” - A politically correct, but wrong
question?
 Employment… what for?
 Subsistence
 Identity
 Participation
 Creation
 If employment, for whom? - vulnerability
 “Participation” and “who takes the decision”
Basic Human Needs (Rights)
Employment is one possible satisfactor
for these needs, but not the only one.

7. FEANTSA Conference – Zaragoza 2007
Questions and thoughts (II)
 Employment is easy to find, but difficult to keep.
 What kind of employment do they find?
 Low skilled, low paid, no stability
 Employment is not an “inclusion-guarantee” (instability, working
poor, exploitation,…).
 Employment yes, as one element more in the educational
process; BUT not an obsession, not in any case, not at any price.
 The role of local administration and local employers for the
protected employment.

8. Thanks for your interest and
patience