Social Capital and volunteering: the keys for solidary financing for social housing. The Un Techo para Chile Foundation case

Authors

  • Jorge Atria Curi Un Techo para Chile

Abstract

Even when the housing policies have, in the last decades, introduced important improvements in the understanding and treatment of housing in the poorest sectors, there is still an important percentage of poverty . The poorest sectors are clearly excluded from several aspects of society. This is evident in chanty towns which have no land regulations, lack of basic services, crowding conditions, segregation and discrimination. There is also a lack of formulas which facilitate the application to housing units. There is a need for alternative management and financing models where solidarity is an effective policy and not just nice words. This paper presents the vision and the working model used by the Un Techo para Chile Foundation (exported to other Latin American countries under the name of Un Techo para mi País). The social capital and volunteering are stressed as fundamental strategies which cooperate with solidarity financing for social housing. Such strategies play an important role in the financing of the housing units, in the transmission of the information, the defence of dignity, guaranteeing quality and the search of excellence in service as possible premises in the development of urban housing for the poorest communities.

Author Biography

Jorge Atria Curi, Un Techo para Chile

Chileno. Sociólogo y Magíster en Sociología, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile. Director del Centro de Investigación Social de Un Techo para Chile.