ESN members discuss local and European housing strategies
HABITACT, the European exchange forum on local homeless strategies, organised a peer review on 10-11 April in Greece to discuss the local housing model in Athens, as well as European housing strategies. The European Social Network (ESN) was represented by its members, Matthias Schulze-Böing, Chair of the German Association of Local Employment Policy, Steen Bo Pedersen, Head of the Housing and Homelessness Department in Copenhagen and Lisa Schönenberg, ESN Policy Officer.
The first session focused on discussing the local model to tackle homelessness in Athens. Dimitra Nousi presented the work of KYADA, the Reception and Solidarity Centre of the Municipality of Athens, which runs social groceries, social pharmacies, soup kitchens, solidarity programmes for families, shelters and guest houses that offer temporary accommodation. Ms Nousi explained the approach to prevent homelessness amongst the ‘new poor’, people who lost their main source of income due to the crisis: “We try to cover their basic needs and provide psychological support because these people have never had the experience of asking for help.” During site visits, participants learned that Athens’ housing model recognises the link between poverty and homelessness. The municipality, together with NGOs, has developed services to cover basic needs, mostly funded by the European Social Fund. However, there is still scope to further develop other dimensions, such as service user involvement and housing-led solutions.
The second session looked at cooperation across services and public support. The municipality of Athens has played the main role in facilitating and coordinating policy agencies and services. However, the cooperation between local authorities and NGOs still needs to be defined and there is a lack of legal framework to develop services that address different dimensions of homelessness. Most of the guest houses and shelters are not allowed to provide shelter for people with multiple problems, such as drug addictions. Moreover, although core data on the homeless population is collected, there has been less attention to the evaluation of the effectiveness of these services.
The peer review also looked at policies that promote employability amongst service users. Though a well-known concept in other countries, Athens’ first street magazine sold by homeless people was launched a year ago, helping to shift attitudes towards homeless people and create more social solidarity. However, Christos Alifantis, founder of the street magazine, underlined: “There is extreme division between structural homelessness and actual homelessness: a drug addict can have a roof but no home, and selling a newspaper on the street is not enough. Homeless people need to engage in working and training and services need to look across a whole range of needs." This is also the approach of German Jobcentres, presented by Matthias Schulze-Böing. Jobcentres provide social protection benefits combined with activation policies and targeted support that links employment and homelessness prevention and other support services. “Work doesn’t only mean income, but it is key to self-esteem and identify. Work shouldn’t come after housing, it is important to interlink them”, he explained.
The shift from temporary housing to long-term housing was illustrated by Copenhagen’s ‘housing first’ approach. The municipality, where 70 social workers are responsible for 1 600 homeless people, provides 1 200 apartments in cooperation with housing companies in different districts in Copenhagen. Problems associated with long-term homelessness, such as addiction or certain health problems, are addressed by a multi-professional team consisting of a psychiatrist, a nurse, a social worker and an employment specialist. Steen Bo Pedersen concluded that the ‘housing first’ approach proved to be more sustainable than the ‘stair case model’: “More than 90% of service users stay in housing and a cost-benefit analysis found out that temporary shelter would cost 25,000 Euro per person in one year, compared to 13 000 Euro in the ‘housing first’ apartment.”
The last session of the peer review looked at EU funding for homeless strategies. In Athens, a wider municipal development agency (ADDMA) was set up to optimise access to EU funding for homelessness and reintegration programmes; here, measures to tackle new homelessness and new people in need rely heavily on European funding. In addition, enhanced cooperation with NGOs and the private sector shows a high level of corporate social responsibility and engagement by the citizens of Athens.
For more information about this project visit the HABITACT website.