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In the Pluto emergency shelter, young people find protection in emergency situations. Now comes criticism from an unfamiliar quarter.
It is one of the last lifelines for desperate young people. The “Pluto” emergency shelter has been open in a house near Viererfeld in Bern for six months.
Legend:
“The house is often full”: social worker Nicole Maassen looks after the young people and also changes the bedding.
SRF/Matthias Baumer
“The young people come to us because of violence in the family, conflicts in relationships, mental crises or addiction problems,” says social worker Nicole Maassen to SRF.
Pluto counts over 1000 overnight stays
If you are between 14 and 23 years old, you get a bed in a single or double room, meals, can wash and shower, can rest and get advice free of charge. After “Nemo” in Zurich, this is the second such accommodation in German-speaking Switzerland.
Legend:
Young people stay in Pluto in single or double rooms.
SRF/Matthias Baumer
Demand is high: the private emergency shelter in Bern has had 1,045 overnight stays by 67 young people in six months since it opened at the end of May. “The house is often full,” says Maassen. For comparison: The Zurich counterpart Nemo counted 1786 overnight stays in 2021.
Pluto is open to all young people. It’s mostly young men. Even those who are looking for work or come from asylum accommodation. Pluto only roughly shows who – at what age, where from, for what reasons, with or without a migration background – is staying in the night shelter.
Legend:
In the inconspicuous house on Studerstrasse in Bern, young people in need find a roof over their heads.
SRF/Matthias Baumer
Thus, those who take shelter with Pluto may already be in a social structure. And went there because it might be more comfortable than in a home or in an asylum. Silvio Flückiger, head of the Bernese street work Pinto, takes a critical view of this:
It is tricky when you set up a parallel structure to existing institutions.
He lacked the information about the backgrounds of the people who stayed in Pluto. “But there are certainly people who couldn’t stand it any longer in their place. Pluto is certainly good for that,” says Flückiger. He doesn’t know if the homeless really go to Pluto. He would almost never meet homeless minors on the street.
Some stay in emergency shelters for weeks
On average, young people stay in Bern for two weeks. However, some stay for several weeks or even months. This is despite the fact that they have to leave at 9 a.m. and are not allowed back into the facility until 6 p.m.
“We accept everyone,” emphasizes Maassen. The majority come from the entire canton, quite a few come from other cantons or from abroad.
Ralph Miltner, coordinator of housing and homeless assistance at the municipal social welfare office, also asks whether the needs are not already covered by other institutions. There are already emergency accommodations for minors in the canton and an emergency sleeping place for over 18-year-olds.
Despite the good occupancy, it is not yet entirely clear whether Pluto really meets a need. Pluto is not transparent enough for him. And adds: It is often the case that social institutions are created on private initiative.
Social worker Maassen also believes in that: “It’s good that Pluto exists. But it’s also frightening that the offer is needed at all.”