Wednesday morning was a very important day for the community of Aruba, when the first stone was laid for Sticthing Hunto (Together Foundation). This centre will provide care to people who have problems with mental health, including homeless addicts.
Minister of Public Health, Mr. Dangui Oduber was the one who started with the idea to add care for people suffering from addiction together with people with mental health problems under one roof.
In May 2019 a new supervisory board was appointed for the Foundation for the Management of Addiction in Aruba, FMAA. In October 2020, an MoU was signed between FMAA and SPD (Department of Social Psychiatry) with the intention to join these instances.
This foundation will help many families who have members suffering from mental health issues. It will help with rehabilitation in order to reintegrate them into our society. Each of these people will once again contribute to Aruba’s economy. The work was not easy; many stakeholders had to be convinced in order to achieve this.
Minister Oduber thanked and congratulated his colleague, minister of Justice and Social Affairs, Mr. Rocco Tjon who continued and finalized this very important project. This is also the first new infrastructure in 25 years dedicated especially to homeless addicts.
Minister Oduber also thanked SPD, FMAA, DVG, FADA, HAVA, Respaldo, stuurgroep GGZ and all stakeholders for believing in this project and making it a reality.
