Depaul Slovakia: Breakfast for the Homeless

Every week groups of homeless are coming in bright vests to the Bratislava main train station from the nightshelter St. Vincent de Paul. These are people who signed the night before to participate in the Integration program activity. During the next five hours they will be working here to collect garbage, sweep pavements, clean streets and other public areas around the train station. The place is symbolic - for many of them this train station was their very first contact and entry gate into the homeless world. Now it is again the opportunity for the new change.

According to the estimates of professionals, around 4.000 – 5.000 homeless live in Bratislava, capital of Slovakia. Many of them are dependent on the nightshelter or some other social service for homeless people to survive. The nightshelter St. Vincent de Paul is the biggest low-threshold nightshelter in the region. Every night some 150-220 people, depending on the weather or the period of the year, are coming there to look for help, medical treatment, bed, hygiene, clothes or food. It is the only nightshelter in the country which is open for all, including alcohol and drug addicts not only during the winter season, but during the whole year. Every year around 1.600 people use this form of help.

To help clients of the nightshelter on their way out of street, we run Integration program which is built around work therapy. The aim of the program is to provide opportunities for homeless, to give them encouragement, support and help on their way out of homelessness. To create a viable opportunity to succeed, it is necessary for the right form of help to come to the right person in the right moment of time. And also be patient and give people freedom to fail and provide new opportunity to start again.

The program is built around the proper balance of demands and benefits. Expectations put on clients are very low at the beginning and as they proceed through the program expectations are growing together with responsibilities and abilities of participants. The program is open to every client of the nightshelter. Even alcohol and drug abusers are joining and postponing their typical daily dose to stay sober and be able to participate in activity. The work which is done by these groups is very often to clean public spaces. For a day of work the participant receives seven free nights in the nightshelter and some contribution for food. Later, in the final stage of the program when they work regularly, they are granted their own room in the nightshelter. To have a hostel type of accommodation and privacy in the nightshelter has a strong motivation for others. “It is not fair. How is it that they can have their own room? I want that too.” were common comments when we started the program a few years ago and dedicated the room to the first group of four participants. Today we are opening another room for a bigger group of participants.

Juraj is one of those who were significantly influenced by Integration program. He lives with his partner in a nice flat and since August his present work became a permanent employment. We know Juraj for many years. He used to come to the nightshelter when he was still addicted to alcohol and drugs. He was not a very nice person to be around. All his friends, staff and also family members learned the hard way that they cannot trust him. When he got to prison for the second time and his family interrupted any contacts with him, he realized that he does not want to live this way anymore. He decided to stop drinking alcohol and taking drugs. When he got out of prison and came to our nightshelter again he immediately joined Integration program and participated in all working activities. Our staff supported him and as he progressed through the program he became a leading person, motivator and influencer for others. When the first group was created which moved to the next stage of the program, worked every day and moved to their private room in the nightshelter, he was among them. During the program we helped him to resolve his debts through a personal bankruptcy process and we also helped him to renew his broken relations with family. He found a girlfriend who supported him during this period. When his family was contacted and informed about his progress, they did not believe. But they were open to give him a time and test him for a certain period. When they have learned that his change is permanent, they helped him to find a flat in which he moved with his new partner. It took almost two years to finish the process but today Juraj is happy person who is willing to share his personal experiences with others and help those who are in the similar situation as he was some time ago.

In the near future we plan to expand the Integration program for a bigger group and dedicate the half of the nightshelter to those who will participate in the program.