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Depaul Slovensko

Depaul Slovensko aims to address the needs of homeless people sleeping rough around Bratislava, the capital city of Slovakia, where 19 people died from hypothermia during the winter of 2005/06 when temperatures fell to well below freezing each night.  NGOs in the country estimate that there are between 2,000 and 3,000 homeless people in the capital, and across Slovakia as a whole at least 10,000 with no roof over their head.  The homeless population have many acute medical conditions, the most prevalent of which is TB. 

Depaul Slovensko became a registered Slovakian charity in May 2006 and over the winter 2006/07 we ran an emergency cold weather shelter for 120+ homeless people each night.  Its success in preventing homeless people dying from hypothermia on the streets of Bratislava led to the city authorities asking us to continue the shelter throughout the year, offering day centre facilities for the more elderly and vulnerable of its residents, and advice services to all.  Depaul Slovensko is now in its fourth year of operation providing services on two sites for 230+ people who would otherwise be sleeping rough. 

• St Vincent’s nightshelter, located in a large warehouse building near Bratislava airport, offers a bed and basic amenities for 200+ people each night. 
  
• St Louise’s infirmary, operating from a residential house in central Bratislava, accommodates a further 30 ill and vulnerable residents, often the most elderly. Bedspaces are limited, and there is a waiting list of 50 more vulnerable people at any one time, although they are still able to access the nightshelter facilities. 
  
• Depaul Slovensko provides links into health and social services from both sites, as well as advocacy, advice and counselling on welfare benefits and rights.
  
• We continue to look for a permanent home for these services, premises which will be more suitable in the long term - either an existing building for refurbishment, or a site which will be suitable for a new-build high quality project.  

One of the most serious factors influencing homelessness is the criminal justice system, in particular those released from prison, but other key issues can be departure from a children’s home when coming of age, domestic violence, expulsion from school, family problems, drug addiction, illness (including mental illness), long term unemployment, a low level of educational qualification, etc. 

When we first set up Depaul Slovensko in 2006, there were few services operating to help homeless people to rest or keep warm in the winter, no space for basic hygiene facilities.  Social services were not geared to help those sleeping rough.  Outreach work on the streets was very limited, as were hostel bedspaces, and there were no programmes aimed at resettling people back into the community. Some progress has been made over the past two years, and Depaul Slovensko has been instrumental in drawing attention to the plight of these homeless people nationally through our work with the media.

Depaul Slovensko aims to become sustainable in the long term by building its governance, administrative and fundraising base in-country.  It is able to access staff exchanges and mentoring arrangements across the Depaul Group in order to ensure highly trained and motivated staff and volunteer teams, and has its own recruitment and training programmes for both staff and volunteers.