THE HOMELESS PEOPLE'S PROBLEMS

by Daria Blacha, Gimnazjum nr 2 im. św. Walentego w Bieruniu

Winter came and the temperature in Poland often falls down below 0° C. Cold weather kills many people, mostly the homeless. At least 38 people have died in Poland since November.

According to the European Federation of National Organizations Working with the Homeless (FEANTSA), there are at least 200,000 homeless people in Poland. “Only 10-15 percent of those people are able to find accommodation provided by organizations working with the homeless,” the group said. “The homeless often find themselves with no options for shelter or social services.”
Reasons why people become homeless are various, e.g. loss of the job, family breakdown, domestic violence or addictions. Sometimes relatives reject a difficult family member.

There are some national strategies and programmes created to tackle the problem of homelessness, but a real help is mostly provided by NGOs. In Poland the most popular is MONAR. This organization helps people in hard circumstances. MONAR has established special prevention centers consisting of night shelters and residential points. There are different programmes for the socially excluded undertaken e.g. therapy for alcoholics, post-penitentiary care and hospitals. Another institution supporting the homeless is Barka Foundation which provides shelter, food, clothing, and medical treatment.

 

 The described projects meet the most basic and urgent needs of the homeless.  There are also some organizations which offer unusual support. One of them is the Homeless World Cup organization. Since 2003 it has been running an annual football tournament where teams of homeless people from different countries compete. The organization cooperates in over 70 countries, among others, in Spain, Italy, Romania, Sweden and Poland.  Italy was the winner in 2004 and 2005, and Polish team was runner –up in 2005 and 2007.

Last year the Northern Ireland got the trophy. One of the players of winner team is Padraig McKissock, who scored more than 30 goals in the competition. "The tournament in Chile was brilliant, I scored some goals, I played well, it was the best experience I would ever have," Padraig said. "Football has changed my life, it has made me more confident, it is a brilliant thing" he claimed.

Padraig shows that it is worth helping people in variable manners. Maybe we can’t support the homeless people by direct actions. There are lots of specialists trained in a better way and educated about homelessness issues but I believe it’s important just to be aware of homeless people’s  problems and think about our attitude to it.

LINKS:
http://www.thenews.pl/1/9/Artykul/192306,Dozens-die-from-cold-in-Poland
http://barka.org.pl
http://www.ibtimes.com/cold-weather-polands-homeless-dying-bitter-winter-214033
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homeless_World_Cup
http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-30020475
http://netaware.ue.katowice.pl/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Social-exclusion-of-homeless-people-in-Poland.pdf
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/audio/video/2013/4/9/1365522784966/Homelessness-Washington-D-010.jpg