The afternoon of this Thursday (25th) Christmas is special for the homeless population of São Paulo. It’s lunch day at the Street People’s House of Prayer. The lunch features the participation of Julio Lancelloti, a priest known for his work with the homeless population, for those who provide shelter, social assistance and food to those in need.
And today was another one of those days. Lancelotti arrived in the early afternoon. At any Christmas dinner, a place full of people is synonymous with plenty. But at the Street People’s House of Prayer, this also carries a melancholy meaning. After all, more people are living on the streets.
“The situation of polarization that we live in is becoming increasingly difficult, the situation of challenge and inequality. The situation is very difficult because the number of the homeless population is increasing more and more”, he laments. At the same time, he is at ease among his people. Among those he chose to help.
“This is the spirit of Christmas, the meaning of Christmas, welcoming those that no one welcomes, looking at those that no one looks at.”
Soon after arriving, Father Júlio said a prayer and lunch was served. Children first, then women. The majority of men wait for patients. No one speaks loudly or disrespects others. Family lunch.
Reception
Casa de Pração do Povo da Rua, in São Paulo, relies on the support of volunteers to serve the homeless population. Photo: Rovena Rosa/Agência Brasil
Long before Lancelotti arrived, however, the place was already full. People from various parts of the city went to have their Christmas moment there. The House of Prayer for the Street People is a building that brings together infrastructure to support the city’s homeless population. There are around 80 thousand people with this profile in the most recent survey, by the Street Population Observatory.
One of the Casa’s volunteers is Ana Maria da Silva Alexandre, coordinator of the place, with 26 years working there. And there is a lot of work to do. In the kitchen, the ten volunteers take turns. They wash the dishes for breakfast, served to around a hundred people. They cut the ham for lunch, prepare salad, farofa, rice. They cut fruits and panettone, to serve around noon, for those who are already hungry. There is a nativity scene, set up by visitors, and also a space with donated clothes. There you can find clothes of all types, men’s, women’s and children’s.
“For me, it’s wonderful to see that these people who don’t have a house to go to today, don’t have a family, because the 25th is a very happy date for those who have a family, to be with their family, but very sad for those who don’t, for those who pass alone on the sidewalk. So the house, they know it’s a space that’s open”, he says.
She speaks with joy in her eyes about what is her second family. “So, it’s not just eating and drinking, but it’s sitting at the table, talking, meeting someone you already knew, or making new friends. And having hope, which is one of the most important messages of Christmas. Just like Jesus, born homeless, they also always seek hope for themselves.”
The year 2025 ends for the Casa’s volunteers, leaving behind unpleasant memories. “It was difficult, because of the things we see happening. A lot of repossessions, a lot of people who were in occupations and we see them returning to the streets. The neglect. Cracolândia, which they say is over, but which was only pushed to the outskirts”, he states.
Drug addiction and nights on the street
One of the people waiting for lunch is Ronaldo*. Back on the streets two weeks ago, after a few months in hospital. He had stayed away from drugs for ten years, but he relapsed this year, he admits. “It’s been a tough year, you know. But it’s going to get better.” Help with assembling kits with hygiene products and slippers. For women, bags and makeup, donated by traders in the central region. And toys, for the children. The kits would be distributed shortly afterwards.
Where to sleep is a daily concern for Luna de Oliveira, a trans woman, and Emerson Ribeiro. The couple spends their first Christmas together. This week they have already tried to find a place in four shelters, but in all of them there is a difficulty: there is no space for both of them. For her, the prejudice for being a trans woman makes the situation much worse. It also makes it difficult to find a job.
Emerson is a bricklayer’s assistant. He spent some time unwell, using drugs. He started using crack, but he proudly says that he has been without any drugs for more than a month, largely thanks to the help of his partner. He is looking for a new chance, a job at a construction site. He knows how to make dough, lay floors. The objective is to organize themselves and leave the street together and get married. Born in Mogi das Cruzes, in the metropolitan region, he has been sleeping with her on the nearby streets, in Luz.
The place is frequented by people who find some comfort there in a harsh routine of drug addiction, prejudice and abandonment. Photo:Rovena Rosa/Agência Brasil
Luna is from Itaquera, east of the capital. A few years older than her partner, she is 31, and has been on the street since fights with her family forced her to leave her home and go to the center. Developed, she dreams of working in television. “We’re trying to get back on our feet,” she says, and makes some money from recycled materials.
She has been attending the House of Prayer since 2017 and has been there on previous Christmases, but he was not familiar with the space. “It’s been wonderful for me, I’m very happy. I thought I was going to spend Christmas alone but, thank God, he appeared in my life”, she says. “I brought him to meet Father Júlio, to meet the coordination, and we are being treated very well here, thank God”.
Born in a community in the north, close to Pico do Jaraguá, Nilton Bitencourt ended up on the street after his mother’s death. An only child, he found himself left behind in the estate, losing the right to the house where he lived with her for more than a decade, in Itanhaem. Back in São Paulo, he used drugs and went to live in the center. “This Christmas it’s busier here, more families. It’s beautiful.”
He works on Rua 25 de Março, unloading trucks. He has lived in tents for almost a decade, always in the region. I don’t want much next year: fixing the bridge of my teeth, which is loose and wants to escape. That’s why I work tomorrow. “I hope it’s not expensive, no one deserves it, but there’s no way around it, I’ll have to fix it.”
That was the Christmas lunch of 2025. There will be more next year. Because inequality, prejudice and poverty will continue to take people to the streets. When the reporter asks Lancelotti what message is important to convey this Christmas, he says, without hesitation: “While change doesn’t come, be different. Be with the poor.”
* fictitious name
