PAPS began to do outreach activities in earnest, and I would like to tell you about a woman I met during that time (I am writing about a general case so that personal information will not be identified).
I also met a woman who was living on the streets in downtown Tokyo when her savings ran out and she applied for public assistance at the city office but was turned down.
While living on the street, some of the women said that by interacting with their hosts and people involved in the downtown area, they made acquaintances, were treated to meals and drinks by them, and felt at home, saying, “Everyone here is so kind."
When we meet such women, PAPS will work with them to make a plan to connect them to self-support, employment transition support, and medical care in order to secure the women's desired welfare benefits and placements while they stay at our affiliated shelter.
When we meet these women, we work with them to make a plan to connect them with support for self-support, job transition, and medical care, while they stay at our affiliated shelter and receive the welfare benefits and housing they desire.
I will never forget the look on the woman's face when we told her that she had a place where she could lie down and rest, even if it was just for the night. At PAPS, we continue to be involved in the shelter in the hope that they will be able to live a life where they can stretch their legs and rest in safety.
[Consultation at City Hall and Free and Low-Cost Accommodation]
After receiving a thorough explanation of welfare assistance from a staff member of the Livelihood Assistance Section, the staff member explained that “many people apply for welfare assistance after signing a contract for free and low-cost accommodation to secure a place to stay” and that women without savings and a place to stay were guided to free and low-cost accommodation. The women who had no savings and no place to stay were directed to free and low-cost accommodations. We visited a women-only lodging facility, but although food and a place to stay are guaranteed, the curfew limits the amount of time they can work, and those who are in the prime of their working lives do not earn enough money.
If she were to receive public assistance, she would only be left with an amount that she could not save by deducting the cost of accommodation from the protection money, and she may be unable to live the life she desires, so she may be forced to abandon the accommodation. When I visited a free fixed-rate accommodation center with a counselor, a man with a high-pressure tone, although I won't say where, responded to us and said, “What? (You?)" I was surprised to see that welfare recipients are not free to choose where to stay. Later, when I searched the Internet for that free fixed-rate accommodation, I was surprised to find a place that had been the subject of a news article in the past.
The welfare department explained to us that she could not sign up for an apartment while receiving public assistance from the beginning, that she needed to start looking for a free low-cost lodging, that if she did not sign up for a free low-cost lodging and apply for public assistance today, she would have to apply at the municipality where the shelter where she is staying is located, and that “the only jobs with dormitories are mainly for men. There are only security companies that are eligible for this program,” they explained.
[City Hall, Admission to Women's Protection Facility]
In the cases received by PAPS so far, some women have received explanations from female counselors at city hall that they will be admitted to a women's protection facility while receiving public assistance, which will lead to support for transition to work and medical care. Instead, there is the problem of not being able to use a cell phone for a certain period of time. Not having access to a cell phone is a matter of life and death in today's society.
How to spend time alone in daily life without the use of a smartphone, and in some cases, how to fill the loneliness, is an important issue every time.
We developed measures together with our support staff on how to spend the time, and some of us decided to devote it to reading, which we love, and went to the library to borrow the limit number of books at the library with our PAPS support staff. At the library, some of them told us with a twinkle in their eyes about their favorite authors, authors recommended by the Pappus support staff, and “I borrowed this book." Some counselors told us that being able to take measures like this made them feel prepared about entering a women's shelter, and as a supporter, I was happy to hear this.
[Exiting the shelter]
Some women are able to connect with the government and find a place to live, while others may be found by staff in an empty room that they had left the shelter in the morning.
In such cases, we send an email to them saying, “How are you doing? It's okay to contact us just to say you are hungry or want to stretch your legs and sleep, etc.” and we hope to connect with them again.
What I felt after spending time with these women is that while they want to rebuild their lives, they also have a warm and nostalgic feeling for the people involved in the downtown area who say kind words and treat them to meals. In one case, we were also keenly aware that the power of the non-profit organization was being lost on the hosts.
However, this is not the end of our support for PAPS. We will continue our activities, preparing ourselves to help the women whenever they want to get out of their current lives.
We would also like to thank the shelter staff who warmly reached out to the girls and the city hall staff who worked out a plan to help them rebuild their lives.
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