Now
Launched in May 2021, Collec’Diff has been set up by the City of Differdange, the Social Office of Differdange and Caritas Luxembourg, to strengthen community life through prevention and civic participation. The service is aimed at young people in social decline who frequent the Gerlache park to indulge their addictions, as well as visitors to the park, local residents and shopkeepers, to involve them in a joint search for lasting solutions to improve mutual respect between park users.
A real network has been set up with the municipality’s services to better organise the needs identified by the street workers. There is regular cooperation between the Jugendtreff Déifferdeng, the local authority’s youth department, the Social Office and the social grocery shop, as well as more ad hoc cooperation with other local authority departments. An ongoing dialogue is offered to local residents and businesses.
Challenges
- Working with young people to offer them leisure, sporting, cultural and educational activities that suit them and prevent them from drifting off the social track.
- Listening to them to identify their needs and implement solutions.
- Listening to residents, visitors and shopkeepers to help them regain a sense of ownership of the park and its surroundings, and organising joint activities to facilitate greater social cohesion between all stakeholders.
- Reacting to situations of homelessness and precariousness and supporting people in difficulty (in conjunction with existing social services).
Text & picture: © Caritas Luxembourg
