Our main objective is to bring homeless people closer to society through meetings, performances, lectures, exhibitions and discussions. Our idea is to create and develop a social-orientated community and culture hub, where social and cultural activities take place. We will engage the community in different aspects of social, cultural and community activities, lectures and workshops.

Budapest, Hungary

The public is more likely to think of homelessness as a moral failing than to unfortunate circumstances that can all together lead to the loss of housing. The communities in which it is more likely to encounter homeless, poor, socially isolated people, has significantly more prejudices towards them. The more shame associated with being homeless, the less likely homeless people get the support they need. With our project, we would like to develop different social and cultural activities, events which will help the community establish stronger cohesion. Our aim is to create interest within the local and nonlocal communities in social activities, workshops and lectures, organised and lead by homeless people, advocates and activists.

The main target of our project is the inclusion of homeless people and other marginalised groups. According to 78% of homeless people surveyed in 2019 homeless people should be helped to integrate into society. The breakdown of personal relationships and social marginalization contribute to the loss of self-esteem and the sense of belonging, competence and control over one’s life. The involvement of homeless people in the design and implementation of such programs, especially if accompanied by adequate training and mentoring has a great empowerment potential, and it also offers opportunities to learn new skills. Through these activities, bridges are built between people in and out of homelessness, which is the starting point for social inclusion.

1. Set up management and implementation teams, comprising of social workers and homeless people- first month
2. Contact possible partners, inviting them into the project. Introducing the project to municipalities-first month
3. We intend to conduct extensive marketing activities online and offline, viral promotions and social media campaigns. Printing flyers and distributing them within the local community-first month
4. Renting a space that meets our expectations-first month
5. Designing, furnishing the space -second month
6. Open the community centre and charity shop- second month
7. We will contact all the social support providers and community leaders in the area and introduce our services and programs and keep the local community updated of our programs-continuous
8. Implementing the planned activities. Merchandising in the shop and organising programs in the community centre- continuous
9. Continuous monitoring of the implementation of the project, in order to achieve the planned results and resolve any problems that arise.

We expect less prejudices and more understanding towards homeless and marginalised people, as the result of our programs and activities. More possibilities for them to find a safe accommodation and permanent employment. More effective communication between social services, service users, the local community and the local government. More people to be involved in the life of the local community. To maintain a cultural and community hub featuring interesting and varied programs where different social groups can exchange ideas, learn and actively spend their free time. We would like to reach thousands of people through different channels, we are expecting hundreds of participants for our various events, we will work with dozens of partner organizations.

Given that nowadays there are low levels of civic engagement and participation, it is crucial to promote the active citizenship, especially in Eastern-Europe. We will cooperate with organisations and trainers to increase the knowledge about active citizenship. Lectures and workshops will be organised that focus on local, national, European and international citizenship. Amongst its objectives, the lectures and workshops will provide opportunities for participants to present, share and exchange models of practice, examine concepts of citizenship, enhance their understanding of citizenship, explore concepts and models of participation and support the participants to promote active citizenship within their communities.

For three decades, the Menhely Alapítvány has supported homeless people. The project managers are Nora Bagdi and Robert Kepe, both of them have been involved in several innovative social and cultural projects, we have been cooperating with different civil organizations in advocating for social inclusion, housing rights, equality, acceptance and empowerment throughout the years. Our mission is working in partnership to ensure that everyone has access to a safe and affordable home. We believe, reducing prejudices towards homeless people and other marginalised people is the first step to realization of this. Currently there is no place in Budapest that homeless people help to maintain, where they can share their experiences and show their talents.

Renting costs: 9200 EUR (11months)
Personnel costs (administration, HR, coordination): 8500 EUR (12 months)
Advertisements, flyers, campaigns: 1500 EUR
Furnishing, renovating : 2000 EUR
Fees for experts, lecturers, artists, peers: 10000 EUR (12 month)

We’d like to receive valuable suggestions, comments and feedback from organizations and individuals whose work and interests meet ours. We would like to receive any kind of feedback, positive or constructive, that would help us improve.