Our new project: Housing First - evidence based advocacy!

Mission is a partner organization to Ius Medicinae Foundation and Salvation Army in Iceland in implementation of the project titled "Housing First - evidence based advocacy" which was awarded a grant in a Citizens for Democracy Programme financed under European Economic Area Financial Mechanism and operated by The Batory Fundation in Poland. The project has been invented by the Mission within its Advcacy Programme: Research, Cooperation and Transparency and it will be implemented mosty by our staff including reseacher, advocate, psychologist and streetworkers. We are very happy to be given this opportunity to organize events and conduct substancial research which, as we hope, will shed new light on the condition of Polish support system for the homeless and the life of the homeless people themselves. We hope to gather evidence and arguments to convince the Polish audience to the idea of Sam Tsemberis from Pathways to Housing N.Y.C., U.S. that sometimes home has to come first if sustainable results are the goal. The project begins in April 2014 and will last two years. It is coordinated by Julia Wygnańska, www.czynajpierwmieszkanie.pl . Keep truck of the events!  

Short description - meritum of the project

The project offers sustainable evidenced-based advocacy for a change in attitudes towards support systems for severely excluded people who live ‘in the streets’ and do not use institutional social services. Evidence of the problem will be collected through desk and empirical research based on data accumulated by those who provide support to this group (extent of the problem, real institutional and individual cost of the problem, stakeholders’ attitudes) and disseminated in consultation seminars of stakeholders and conferences, websites and online newsletters as well as paper publications. This is hoped to create a foundation for future implementation of innovative ‘Housing First’ programmes successfully realized in the US and several EU Member States. The program was invented by S. Tsemberis from Pathways to Housing, N.Y.C., US. The project will be implemented in a partnership combining experience in social campaigning, homlessness policy and services, knowledge-based advocacy and international co-operation. The project will last two years beggining in April 2014.