TO save street children and change the course of their lives, Quezon City Vice Mayor Joy Belmonte has teamed up with the Diocese of Novaliches to put up a halfway house for them in Barangay San Agustin.
“This is really a place, a very big facility, where our street children can be housed temporarily, and I think this will play a big part in our street child care program,” she said.
Called “Bahay Pangarap,” the facility shall serve as a drop-in and processing center for rescued street children that are often exposed to illegal drugs, crimes and accidents, she added.
The halfway house, now almost completed, is funded in cooperation of the Diocese of Novaliches led by Bishop Antonio Tobias.
It has male and female dormitories, classrooms, a library, mess hall, counselling room, play room, and an activity center, among others.
Originally, Bahay Pangarap was conceptualized as a drug rehabilitation center for surrendering drug dependents, but the city government already has its own drug treatment center called “Tahanan.”
The facility located in Diamond Hills Subdivision, Group II Area B, Barangay Payatas. Accredited by the Department of Health, it has 300 beds to be staffed by medical professionals, such as psychiatrists and psychologists, counsellors, social workers and volunteers.