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Description
As part of the project, we will found the first emergency intervention apartment in the City of Gdansk for young LGBT+ people affected by the crisis of homelessness or at risk of such crisis. The project has two aims. Firstly, we will provide immediate help to the LGBT+ people who are in a difficult life situation by assuring a home for them and meeting their basic needs. Secondly, we will offer them psychological and social assistance that will help them stabilise their situation, including finding a job, renting a flat or obtaining the right to social housing. The project responds to the insufficiently researched problem of homelessness among young LGBT+ people who are often victims of discrimination on the basis of their gender identity or sexual orientation, and also experience domestic violence, economic exclusion and other difficulties in life. In 2010, the Recommendation CM/Rec(2010)5 of the Committee of Ministers to member states on measures to combat discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or gender identity was released. In 2021, the Campaign Against Homophobia and the Lambda Warsaw Association published a report from research conducted in 2019-2020: The Social Situation of LGBTA People, which was the first in Poland to address this issue. The data revealed that 16.50% of the people surveyed experienced an episode of homelessness at least once in their lives – in case of 20% of people, the episode lasted between a month and a year, and in case of 10.60% of people, it lasted more than a year. Direct beneficiaries of the project are LGBT+ people aged 18-29 from the City of Gdańsk and the Pomeranian Province who are experiencing or are at risk of experiencing a crisis of homelessness according to the European Typology of Homelessness and housing exclusion (ETHOS).
Summary of project results
The aim of the project was to create the first intervention apartment in Gdańsk for young LGBT+ people in a homelessness crisis, which would respond to the poorly understood and researched phenomenon of young people''s homelessness, related to their psychosexual orientation and gender identity, but also exclusion/cross-discrimination related to family problems. , including domestic violence, economic exclusion, etc.
The main challenge of the project was to provide not only a safe shelter for people, but also to try to reintroduce them to active social life, through ongoing work with a social worker and psychological consultations.
One apartment was rented, consisting of 3 bedrooms (2 x single and 1 x double), 1 common room with a kitchenette and a bathroom. The apartment was fully equipped and conveniently located. The apartment could be used by four people at a time. Single rooms were generally dedicated to people of different genders.
During the project, a total of 11 people used the apartment.
In addition, 2,500 information leaflets were prepared, over half of which were sent to almost 60 institutions dealing with social assistance in the Pomeranian Voivodeship.
The Evaluation Report collected the experiences of staff and users, as well as conclusions in the context of planning similar activities in the future.
The main benefit and change was the very fact of launching the apartment - the first solution of this type in Pomerania and one of several in Poland. Thanks to its existence, people using the apartment avoided the homelessness crisis or left it. In the case of some people, due to deep experiences of cross-discrimination and existing disorders, implementing lasting change was difficult and one should ask themselves what it actually meant for them. However, it should be recognized with certainty that each of the users improved their living situation by avoiding staying on the street or, in the case of people who found their way to the apartment from the street, ending this period that was dangerous to their health and life.
There were also cases in which a person left the apartment fully independent and financially independent.
In other cases, the stay in the apartment was a period of respite and allowed to rectify basic problems/issues, such as normalizing the health situation, overcoming eating disorders, disorders in social functioning, etc.
The functioning of the apartment also influenced the awareness of local authorities in this respect, in particular the City of Gdańsk.