The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) announced Sunday it is collaborating with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) to establish independent living arrangements as temporary shelters for beneficiaries of its Pag-abot Program.

This initiative aims to provide long-term, sustainable support for individuals experiencing homelessness.

“This program we are studying with DHSUD is for Pag-abot beneficiaries who have no family or relatives to return to in the provinces,” said DSWD Assistant Secretary Irene Dumlao, the agency spokesperson. “Like our Pag-abot processing center, this will serve as their temporary shelter.”

The Pag-abot National Program Management Office (NPMO), along with Assistant Secretary Ada Colico of the DSWD’s Protective Programs, visited a DHSUD housing facility in Pasay City last 16 July.

Dumlao said the initiative is part of the DSWD’s goal to provide comprehensive interventions. For individuals removed from the streets who have no identified provincial address, the program will offer assistance to help them regain stability through independent group living.

“While our goal at the processing center is to reintegrate those we reach out to from the streets into their communities, here with the DHSUD housing assistance, we will help them become productive citizens while in a safe place,” Dumlao said.