This program provides community-based housing, medical and psychosocial support, access to the labor market, and the provision of food, clothing, and hygiene items on Lesvos. The housing program accommodates refugees in need, responding to the inhumane living conditions in refugee camps. Safe housing restores people's dignity and provides security, independence, social inclusion and empowerment. Support for people's needs is provided by a team of mental health and social work professionals!
Greece, one of the entry points to Europe for many refugees from around the world, has enacted anti-migration laws, especially since 2019, forcing thousands of people out of their temporary homes without basic human rights while they are crammed into state-run refugee camps in dangerous living conditions. The access criteria to state-run shelters have been tightened, forcing vulnerable people to live in Moria Camp II. Thereby, dignified housing is a great need for many refugees on Lesvos.
Lesvos Solidarity's experience in accommodation has a holistic approach and focuses on community-based and inclusive practices. Lesvos Solidarity's housing program provides access to accommodation, food, medical and psychosocial care, education, bureaucratic support, the labor market, and a community life. The program will address a range of needs, particularly housing. It will get refugees out of government refugee camps and give them back their dignity and act as a step towards independence!
This project will create a sense of safety that will encourage people to gain their independence. The ultimate goal is to strengthen the autonomy of the refugee population accommodated in the apartments. By gaining their independence, their chances of integrating into the local society will improve. Also, the project will end the dehumanization of the identity directed against the people who seek refuge in Europe and set an example of an alternative, community-based humanitarian response.
