The construction of From Street to Home Association’s first two mobile homes is under way – the work began on 30 March. The Association’s colleagues, together with beneficiaries, professionals and volunteers welcomed the two units, delivered by truck, on the building site in Soroksár, District 23 of Budapest. The photos taken by volunteers show how the units arrived, and the team working on utilities and insulation. [Read more…] about Budapest: mobile homes under construction (photos)
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Households will move from shacks to mobile homes in Budapest
Thanks to social investors and charity donations, the From Streets to Homes Association bought a plot in Budapest, where settlement of mobiles homes has just started in January 2018. Another land is to be purchased as soon as the association found an ideal-one. The mobile homes provide safe, long-term and affordable rental housing for households who previously lived in shacks. The second hand (thus much cheaper) homes will be adapted to the Hungarian climate (thus receive isolation) and will be connected to the water, sewage and electric network. The rent payed by the new clients of ULE will provide a possibility to enlarge the mobile-home stock of the association.
HomeLab clients in Slovakia moving out from segregated settlement to take a job-opportunity!
4 clients of PIN living in Kojatice, a village in Eastern-Slovakia, 45 km north from Kosice, moved to West-Slovakian town, Nitra, where they have started to work at a company which produces LG televisions. Another client, unfortunately, failed the entrance exam of the job, due to the lack of reading and writing skills. Social worker of PiN is communicating on a daily basis with the clients and their coordinator at work. The coordinator visits the new workers in the workers’ hostel where they stay and provides them advice as well (e.g. regarding bank accounts).
According to the coordinator in the starting period the work there was some lack in personal hygiene of the clients but otherwise, they were very handy and diligent, thus their boss has been satisfied so far with their work. The company made possible for them to work the same shift. They learnt to speak in better-formulated Slovak, they enjoy their work, feel useful and are happy that there is hot water, toilet and kitchen in the hostel, where they can sleep in their own bed – comfort they cannot enjoy in their illegal dwellings home settlement in Kojatice.
Many other clients of PIN from this village become motivated by the example of the first 4 persons, so they are willing to move for similar job-opportunity, but most of them, especially the generation born between 1984 and 1986 are lacking literacy skills, one of them finished school at 4 grade of elementary school. Though, 4 new clients now receive special training for the job interview.
Article on HomeLab at Housing Futures blog
An article, as the first part of a series of posts on the HomeLab project, has been published on the Housing Futures blog, which is an international online platform on housing strategies for cities around the globe. The piece, titled “Integrated Housing Programs for Vulnerable Households in Central-Eastern Europe“, presents how the HomeLab project tests integrated service provision in the fields of housing, employment and social services, in the framework of the Social Rental Enterprise model in the so-called Visegrad Four (V4) countries: Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic and Poland.
A case of a Romodrom client.
In the following weeks we are going to publish short case studies to illustrate how the HomeLab pilots are working in practice. At this time, Romodrom provided as a short resume how one of their clients’ housing and employment situation was improved.
The client contacted the organisation for the first time at the beginning of the year 2017. He looked for an accommodation after his release from prison and expressed the will to find a job too. He also had to solve his debt situation.
Within a month after his release, the social workers succeeded to find him a place in the Hostel in K. (see picture). The principle of the stay in the hostel is an intensive cooperation with the social service focused on the stabilization of the client’s income. The client shall be able to pay himself for his living costs during the period of three months.
Romodrom’s partner in the field of employment is a logistic company Serena Logistic. The client was prepared for the job interview and thanks to his strong motivation and previous experience he obtained a well paid job as a driver. His income enables him to pay off the debts and cover the living costs.
As the client has a stable job he started to be able to look for a standard living. Social workers from Romdorom in cooperation with the client found a standard rental housing in Pardubice. The client moved there and is able to live an independent life.
The Social Rental Enterprise model at the conference on housing exclusion co-organized by Commissioner for Human Rights and Habitat for Humanity Poland
Deinstitutionalization and homelessness prevention were the main topics of a conference co-organized by Commissioner for Human Rights and Habitat for Humanity Poland on 5th October 2017. The conference has been part of the work of the Commission of Experts for Counteracting Homelessness appointed by the Commissioner and gathering experts and practitioners.
The aim of the conference was to share best practices in housing-based methods of overcoming homelessness crisis and call for establishing a country-level system that could spread them. Many progressive local governments and organisations have found its way to create interdisciplinary and integrated support using various resources such as social housing companies (TBS), supported housing and new forms of social assistance.
Habitat Poland presented the model of Social Rental Enterprise based on provision of integrated housing and employment services. SRE differs from other solutions as it provides the housing stock from the private rental market and introduces the role of Social Rental Manager responsible both for technical management and social work with the tenant. The National Director of Habitat Poland presented the origin of the model and positive outcomes that have already been delivered i.e. in Belgium and Great Britain. The Advocacy Manager of Habitat Poland introduced the Polish pilot of Social Rental Enterprise within the HomeLab project and commented on its first outcomes.