The best help for people who have been thrown off track by strokes of fate, illness or life itself is the one that has a double effect. At Diakonia, the social employment and inclusion company for Munich and the region, this is achieved in many of its areas of activity. The mobile clothing stores provide those in need with clothing, shoes, but also hygiene products or sleeping bags and sleeping mats for Munich residents who live on the streets. And they create jobs for people in a protected area. “That is our company purpose,” says managing director Thomas Rosenberger on this summer Friday afternoon on the grounds of the wholesale market hall in Thalkirchen.
The mobile clothing room, which regularly stops here directly opposite the food bank, is a trailer that can be transformed into a covered area measuring around 40 square meters in no time at all. There is space for up to ten rolling clothes rails and around 20 boxes with shoes, laundry and baby clothes. The trailer was financed by the SZ Advent Calendar, the charitable organization of the readers of the South German newspaper.
In the clothing storage trailer, the goods can be set up and stowed away just as quickly. This saves employees a lot of time and energy.
(Photo: Stephan Rumpf)
Outside tarpaulins can be rolled down to the ground to shield the trailer and protect it from rain and wind. On Fridays, around 350 people come to provide themselves and their families with clothing, and on Saturdays there are even 650 people. Anyone who has a Tafel card can take three items with them for each family member, explains Gabriele Breuer, the head of the clothing store.
The trailer was a big wish of the employees, who previously drove the clothes rails and boxes to the distribution points in a sprinter. During the 105 missions per year, even in wind and weather, the poles and boxes then had to be balanced out of the delivery truck and set up under a pavilion, reports Breuer.
The employees who supervise the operations are not only happy about the easier work, but also about having more time for the people on site. “Everything arrives well sorted and we set it up and dismantled it really quickly. This means we have more time to help people find the right item of clothing,” says Martina Huber, a long-time employee of the Diakonia clothing store. “We have known many of them for a long time and it is good that we now have the peace and quiet to listen to them and find out how they are doing,” Huber continues.
The mobile clothing stores were created in 2017 in order to reach people in their surroundings in addition to the offerings of the stationary clothing store at the Diakonia Moosfeld location and thus improve care. There are currently nine locations served by the mobile clothing store. Diakonia is supported by the Munich Social Affairs Department.
All dates and an overview of the locations can be found here.
Diakonia As a social employment and inclusion company, we support people who are unemployed or who are looking for a new career. In domestic or craft businesses such as second-hand. Up to 300 people receive support, qualifications and retraining every year. Diakonia is a subsidiary of the Diakonie Munich and Upper Bavaria and the Evangelical Lutheran Deanery. https://diakonia.de/