Brussels moves to protect vulnerable persons from summer heat

Brussels moves to protect vulnerable persons from summer heat

Neighbourhood shelter teams of the Brussels City Council are looking out for the well-being of vulnerable persons in the hot summer season under the municipality’s Plan Canicule (Heatwave Plan). The Plan, which runs until the end of September, is activated as soon as the temperature rises above 28 degrees Centigrade. People who are isolated, in need or dependent can call telephone number 0800/35.550 free of charge. They are then placed in contact with one of the 14 neighbourhood shelters run by the City of Brussels.

"Between 200 and 300 people are assisted in times of great heat,” the administrative coordinator of the City’s neighbourhood shelters, Antoine Herbiet, said on Wednesday. “We contact many people registered on our lists by telephone, but we also do home visits. Students are taken on in summer for these tasks.”

The plan is part of a general effort to support the most isolated senior citizens. During their visits, the neighbourhood shelter teams can distribute water, for example, but they also check living and accommodation conditions (air, refrigerator, fans, general cleanness of the home etc.). The social assistants can also listen to the persons visited and propose various aid and assistance services to them.

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The Brussels Times


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