12.03.2026
With the 2026 budget just passed, the city councilors were once again able to initiate and support important projects.
For the current City Council members of Volt in the Römer, their term of office is expected to end this month. They are all the more pleased that they were able to pass the budget for their potential successors last week – especially since they were able to provide financial support for important passion projects once again.
“From the very beginning, the topic of Housing First was a project for Volt that we absolutely wanted to implement in the city,” recalls faction leader Martin Huber, continuing: “Even though we experienced a lot of resistance from other parties, but also from providers at the start, we consistently pursued this goal and are pleased that we can now support MainWeg gGmbH again with €200,000.” In recent years, the Housing First project of MainWeg gGmbH has already placed over 20 formerly homeless people into their own apartments. The original criticism that suitable apartments could not be found in a city like Frankfurt has proven to be unjustified in this case; in the long term, the project has 100 apartments at its disposal. Rather, MainWeg gGmbH requires sufficient funds to be more strongly positioned in terms of personnel. “The social workers are doing great work, and the best way we can help them is by reducing their workload and providing enough funds for staff. We also hope that they will finally receive regular funding in the future,” Martin Huber concludes.
For Elisa Grote, spokesperson for diversity policy, the budget motion – which specifically invests in labor market and integration counseling for long-term tolerated persons and refugees with insecure residence status – is a sensible step in view of the restrictive migration policies of the EU, federal, and state governments: “Many of these people have been living in our city for years, yet they only have an insecure perspective and live with the existential fear of deportation. The key to a permanent and secure perspective is often a steady employment relationship. However, there are bureaucratic hurdles here, such as long waiting times for work permits, unclear residency issues, or a lack of counseling. We want to start here with a low-threshold and combined counseling and support offer, following the models in Cologne and Wiesbaden.” For this counseling, Volt in the Römer has allocated €211,000 in the 2026 budget; besides the solution for the refugees, another advantage lies in the relief of the municipalities, as long processing times and waiting loops are accompanied by an unnecessary cost burden for the local authorities, including in the form of social benefits.
Britta Wollkopf, spokesperson for social and health policy, has had the opportunity to get to know many remarkable institutions, providers, and associations: “This year, we were once again able to support several projects that make life in our city so special. I am very pleased that this year we can help the fan projects of both Eintracht Frankfurt and FSV Frankfurt by supporting them with a total of €14,000. For the city, these are relatively small amounts, but what both projects achieve – how much they support Frankfurters, often young ones – should receive significantly more attention in the future.” The funds provided by Volt in the Römer for the two fan projects go, in the case of Eintracht fans, to the successful project ‘Wer boxt schlägt sich nicht’ (Those who box don’t fight), which enables young people through this special form of pedagogical work to find ways to control aggression and strengthen self-confidence. With the funds, the FSV will use the ‘Learning Path against Antisemitism’ to bring Jewish history of the past and present closer to young people in particular, and promote empathy, understanding, and competence in acting for 10-14-year-olds regarding people with disabilities with the project ‘Barrier-free into the Stadium’.
With a further budget motion, the Volt faction in the Römer is strengthening municipal prevention work in the field of health protection. To this end, €30,000 was provided for a pilot project ‘Cannabis-Checking Frankfurt’. “The background is that despite partial legalization, many people continue to obtain cannabis from uncontrolled sources, which may contain dangerous additives. However, the collectively organized cannabis clubs, which are fundamentally sensible, cannot cover the entire demand. The project is intended to make it possible to have cannabis from other sources anonymously tested for purity and active ingredient content. This protects consumers and simultaneously allows for education about the health consequences,” says Britta Wollkopf.
Johannes Hauenschild, spokesperson for economic policy, held the chairmanship of the Economic Committee during this election period. His priorities included regional topics such as the promotion of startups and craft businesses. “With the budget motion for a ‘Day of Urban Production,’ we offer a great opportunity to make Frankfurt’s craft businesses, manufactories, and workshops more visible and show how much value creation, training, and innovation arise right here in our city. At the same time, we are building on further initiatives that we have already set in motion – such as the funding for the takeover of craft businesses, so that businesses are preserved and successors get a perspective. And we want to go even further in the future: for example, with a voluntary craft year based on the Lübeck model, where young people gain practical insights into manual trades and perhaps discover their professional future right there,” announces Johannes Hauenschild.
In conclusion, the Volt faction would like to thank the representatives of the press, the city administration, and the citizens of Frankfurt for their great interest and the constructive accompaniment of our faction’s work. A vibrant democracy lives on open exchange, critical questions, and committed participation. This interest also encourages the future Volt faction to continue working on the future of Frankfurt in a transparent, solution-oriented manner and in dialogue with the city’s society.
