‘For us at Caritas, homelessness is not a theoretical issue,’ emphasised Caritas Director Michael Weißmann at the opening of the panel discussion at the St. Gabriel advice centre. The occasion was the current poverty report of the city of Regensburg, which also focuses on the issue of homelessness - a reality that often remains hidden behind the image of the seemingly prosperous city. Together with the high-calibre panel of experts from politics, practice and science, the challenges that exist and the diverse possibilities offered by the institutionalised help system were discussed.
‘Homelessness is the worst form of housing poverty,’ said moderator Harry Landauer, Head of Corporate Communications at Caritas, introducing the topic. There are no exact figures on how many people in Regensburg are homeless, i.e. without a fixed abode, and how many live on the streets. Professor Wolfram Backert from OTH Regensburg, who together with his colleague Professor Ina Schildbach is responsible for the scientific basis and the preparation of the poverty report, spoke of a ‘large dark field’. As needs-based social policy has to be based on figures, the surveys from the field, i.e. from street workers and emergency accommodation, play a major role.
Emergency accommodation as a psychological burden
‘It is important that people can sleep in a bed at night,’ said Social Mayor Dr Astrid Freudenstein in response to the question “What would you wish for to break the vicious circle of poverty?” posed by Prof Schildbach. ‘I have accommodation to offer, not rental contracts,’ said Freudenstein, describing the limits of the aid system in terms of getting homeless people back into regular housing. The fact that the average length of time people stay in one and the same emergency accommodation centre is two years and eight months was a startling statistic.
Linda Weber, a graduate of OTH Regensburg, showed that this is not without consequences for those affected in her short presentation on her Bachelor's thesis ‘The influence of conditions in emergency accommodation on the mental health of homeless people’. The risk of mental illness is four times higher in people with an insecure housing situation. Scientists speak of a 77 per cent prevalence. This is due, for example, to an unfulfilled need for security, a lack of opportunities to retreat and a lack of nursing and psychiatric care. In her work, Weber formulates minimum standards for emergency shelters, which require a broad spectrum of services ranging from a postal address to social work counselling. So much for the theory.
NOAH - local Caritas programme
‘Housing shortage is not a personal failure,’ said Brigitte Weißmann, Head of Social Counselling at Caritas Regensburg, bridging the gap between theory and practice in Regensburg. ‘People simply no longer reach the help system,’ said Weißmann, who presented the services offered by Caritas - from the day-night shelter in Landshuter Straße with 78 sleeping and accommodation places for men, to the transitional home for men released from prison, to the recently opened Marienheim in Ostengasse, which exclusively accommodates women without shelter, the St. Rita House for women in special circumstances and also offers a protective roof for women reintegrating into society. This Caritas service is summarised under the acronym NOAH. This abbreviation stands for low-threshold and localised services to help people who are entitled to a home even without a permanent residence.
Practical help and new perspectives
Barbora Pokorny, manager of the day-night shelter in Landshuter Straße, reported on her day-to-day work. ‘Homelessness is an exceptional situation, a crisis with special needs that are difficult to fulfil in collective accommodation,’ says Pokorny. There are social workers on site to help with everyday tasks, especially those required by the authorities, and a cleaning service ensures very good hygiene conditions. The cooperation with the district hospital, which enables psychiatric consultations for clients, even if they do not have health insurance, is groundbreaking.
The importance of family-friendly housing was emphasised by Ina Norgauer from Familienwerkstatt e.V., which looks after large families in the Aussiger Straße emergency housing complex. The city of Regensburg is working flat out to ensure that Aussiger Straße becomes a discontinued model. ‘If only it were the money,’ said Mayor Dr Freudenstein, pointing out the need to create adequate living space. An important step on the way out of poverty is also digital participation, Dr Carsten Lenk, Managing Director of the Protestant Educational Association, added to the discussion. Here too, Caritas makes a very practical contribution with the Streetnet Café and the mobile phone donation campaign via a specially set up meeting office in Obermünster Straße 12.
The discussion evening at the St. Gabriel Caritas Counselling Centre was part of a series of events that will highlight various aspects of the new Regensburg Poverty Report on a further four Tuesdays.
