Emilia Mikova: Society has a negative attitude towards homeless people

At the launch of the SOLACE CEE project, Emilia Mikova – Project Coordinator at Health and Social Development Foundation and director of MIR-Suhodolska Center in Fakulteta neighbourhood – gave an interview to the program “Horizont do obed” on the Bulgarian National Radio. She briefly explained what the project aims to achieve and what the activities will be.

In her words, SOLACE CEE is a unique project because it does not only provide activities to support people experiencing homelessness, but also aims to design integrated services for the health and social inclusion of these people.

“Providing housing is complex, as it concerns not only the work of the project, but also local and national policies.

And because the needs of people in a situation of homelessness are different in the different countries participating in the project, each of the partners should develop a model for needs assessment of these people,” explained Mikova.

“We at Health and Social Development Foundation have focused our attention on people who have a home, but it is insecure and/or inadequate according to the European typology of homelessness and housing exclusion.

These are people living in extreme poverty and isolation, in temporary structures that they have built themselves.

Most often, these are unsafe or illegally built homes, whose residents are under threat of eviction, or cases in which large families live in one room. Society has a negative attitude towards these people because it believes that they put themselves in such a life situation because it is easier for them. But the truth is that this is not the case. This concerns other processes that are related to the circle of intergenerational poverty, which is passed down from generation to generation,” commented the project coordinator.

“Providing a home itself does not solve the problems faced by people in a situation of homelessness in Bulgaria. For example, a large part of them do not have an address,

but after recent legislative changes they have received the opportunity to register administrative housing address, which will greatly facilitate both them and the work of social workers,” Mikova pointed out. There are accommodation centers, but they are temporary. People who are accommodated in them can stay there for 3 to 6 months, and this municipal housing service is too small compared to the needs. I assume that after the opportunity to register at administrative housing address is given, the number of the people registered would increase, which will clarify what the needs are. This greatly limits these people’s access to work, school, social and health services. Often the only health care they receive is to call an ambulance in extremely urgent situations, since they cannot use absolutely anything else, they cannot even be registered at General Practitioner, despite the fact that by law, uninsured persons have the right to a personal doctor”, noted Emilia Mikova.

The SOLACE project is funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union or European Commission. Neither the European Union nor the granting authority can be held responsible for them.