Accommodation, a friendly word and some food – that is all that homeless people need. Their life is easier over the warm months. We often see them in parks, around big retail stores, at railroad stations… However, during the winter period, especially when it is extremely cold, like in the current one, shelter and warmth are literally saving the life of those people. Homeless people are supported by municipalities, the church, the Bulgarian Red Cross and different NGOs. People in need of accommodation and warm food most often enter a crisis center at first. The biggest one is in the capital city of Sofia. “Elderly people, victims of mafia frauds, old men and women, abandoned by their relatives and persons that have never had their own home are the most common inhabitants of the place,” Minka Vladimirova, head of Social Activities Directorate at Sofia Municipality says.
“The center for crisis’ accommodation of homeless people was established end-December 2011, under a project of Sofia Municipality", Mrs. Vladimirova explains. "It is entirely funded from the municipality’s budget, as the idea is an easier access to be provided for homeless people to some shelter, clothes and food. We started with a capacity for some 30 people and later on we expanded our facilities, due to this heavy winter. The future destiny of those, who spend their 24 hours at the center is different. It turns out that some of the homeless have relatives that can give them a shelter, others are sent to one of the three centers for temporary accommodation in Sofia, where they can stay up to three months. Some of the people have to enter a municipal hospital because of frostbite or poor health.”

© Photo: BGNES

Despite being busier than usual in this great cold, both the crisis center and the centers for temporary accommodation continue to accept homeless people. Their number is bigger in the capital city. Seasonal workers, most often from the construction business that have remained temporarily unemployed, with no incomes are among the homeless people too. Some of those are even unaware of the existence of such centers, where they can receive shelter, warmth and food, but also a consultation with a social worker. They often spend the nights at railroad and metro stations. The teams of Social Assistance Municipal Company find and accommodate such people. A part of the teams will work over the weekends and at night, due to the extremely low temperatures.

“This is a practice, established last year – thanks to these teams a great number of homeless people were discovered and transported to social centers or hospitals,” Minka Vladimirova goes on to say. “We have also offered free lunch to them since last year. Supported by the Mission without Borders Foundation we opened additional spots for warm food. Volunteers offer to freezing people warm drinks too. We use all our resources and possibilities to support homeless men and women. I know that social services in other cities and towns work just like us, offering different kinds of services and support for people, living in the streets.”

English version: Zhivko Stanchev