Berlin – You have worked hard for years. But in the end, their pension is not enough to heat their homes in winter. For more and more Berlin pensioners, the only option left is to escape to the warming room.
The Caritas warming room at Bundesplatz in Berlin-Wilmersdorf has long been more than a refuge for the homeless. People warm themselves here every day because heating at home has become too expensive for them and they are very afraid of high additional payments. And because they are looking for social connections.
“We notice that more and more people are coming because they are lonely and have a small pension,” says Angelika Kaljic, head of the facility. There have even been visitors who have presented their heating bill to the boss. The boss: “Of course it affects me, but I know that I can help in some cases.”
Rudi (75) from Buckow has been coming to the warming room in Wilmersdorf for 15 years. Here he can talk to others over a cup of coffee and save on heating at home: “With my pension, it just doesn’t work.”
Photo: Ralf Guenther
80 visitors come to the warming room every day between 3 p.m. and 6 p.m. If the temperature is below zero, the first guests will be waiting in front of the entrance from 2 p.m. Angelika Kaljic then opens the door for them earlier, so no one has to stand in the cold.
Rudi (75) from Buckow has been coming here for 15 years: “I don’t heat at home. The pension of 360 euros is not enough for this. I’ve gotten used to it and sleep in my sleeping bag. “Now with the permanent frost it’s more difficult than usual,” says the former electrical mechanic.
Sigrid Johannes (84) has Parkinson’s and can no longer cook for herself. The warming room provides her with lunch: “I set the heating in the living room to 2 and sleep there too.”
Photo: Ralf Guenther
A few tables away there is lentil stew for pensioner Jürgen Schaaf (79) and other visitors. Schaaf regularly drives an hour from Wartenberg to Wilmersdorf. Even for him it is not possible to turn the heating up to full capacity in sub-zero temperatures. “I heat significantly less. With a rent of over 300 euros and a pension of just over 800 euros, there’s not much left,” he says.
Angelika Kaljic has been running the warming room at Bundesplatz for three years. With 24 employees, it takes care of the physical and mental well-being of those in need
Photo: Ralf Guenther
Sigrid Johannes (84) is also a regular guest. The pensioner suffers from Parkinson’s disease and can therefore no longer cook for herself. She also has to save money: “I set the heating in the living room to 2 and sleep there too. It stays away in the other rooms. I’m on the go all day. At lunchtime in the soup kitchen, in the afternoon in the warming room. In the evening I snuggle up in a thick blanket and save money that way. You never know what’s coming.”
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Senate wants to expand offers
The need for such warm places in the capital is increasing. The “Network of Heat” was therefore created in November 2022 on the initiative of the Senate Department for Social Affairs. The Caritas warming room is also part of it. People struggling with high energy costs can warm up in almost 358 facilities in Berlin.
The Caritas warming room at Bundesplatz is well attended every day. Half of the guests have their own apartment, the other half are homeless
Photo: Ralf Guenther
When asked by BILD, a spokesman for the Senate confirmed that the social offerings in the neighborhoods should receive more financial support in the new double budget: “For example, general and independent social advice will be strengthened in regular funding and further expanded with an additional 794,000 euros per year. “
Good news for the warming room too! Recently, a social worker had to be fired due to lack of money.
2024-01-13 06:48:33
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