What I learned about homelessness in Athens, Greece.

In 2021 I chose Athens as a destination to do my master's internship, in a small foundation called Emfasis, focused on streetwork to combat homelessness in the city. In this post I will tell you what I learned about this cause in my 3 months living in Athens.

But first I'll tell you a little about the city...

Athens is a very chaotic city (VERY), but full of life, that offers a huge amount of leisure and things to do and visit. The heritage that is preserved from its glorious past makes Athens a magical city.

I got to climb up to 4 times to the Acropolis, since it was free for students, I thought it was the most impressive thing I've ever seen. Many times when I was walking around the city I would look up, and when I saw it on top of the city I would be dumbfounded thinking, is it real? It's just magical....

If I had to define the Greeks, I would say that they are very nice, friendly and sociable, also that they are quite similar to us, and that they have a very unique Turkish touch.

I liked seeing that there was a great deal of activity for social and artistic causes and that the majority of young people are conscientious people, who go out to the streets to raise their voices when an injustice occurs.

The atmosphere of the streets is very busy, a lot of movement, I loved strolling through the city, the spirit of its streets, vital, welcoming and colorful... it is full of graffiti, messages, posters... and gives a unique personality to the city. Walking around is super entretaining.

The dirt and ugliness in many neighborhoods of the city is also a reality, it was not going to be all pretty, the truth is that most of the streets are not well maintained, the sidewalks are uneven and in very poor condition, so you will not see people in wheelchairs or pushchairs. When it is said that it is a chaotic city, it is much for this.

HOMELESNESS

It is a reality, and it is that the financial crisis of 2008 affected Greece to a greater extent than the rest of the countries, with serious consequences for the population, causing tens of thousands of people to lose their jobs, increasing the number of people who live below of the poverty line. The UN Human Rights Council reports 21,216 homeless people in 2017 (FEANTSA, 2017). Currently, 34.8% of the population, 3.7 million people, are considered to live below the poverty line (Kathimerini, 2018).

Although it is still a problem that shocks you when you arrive and see that this happens as an everyday thing, the situation has improved compared to years ago, and I will tell you that homeless people in Athens are not despised, ignored or punished. Instead, they are cared for and given the dignity they deserve. It is common to see how people leave food, drinks and other "useful" items next to these people on the street.

I am relieved to see that there is solidarity in the face of an uncontrolled situation of homeless people and that it is totally normalized. People help with what they can, but the vast majority are afraid, it causes them rejection, I guess they fear what they don't know, what doesn't fit into the pattern of well-being, beauty and health of this society, well I'll just tell you that mistrust is overcome with knowledge and that behind each person there is a very human story.

One of the biggest grievances cited by homeless people is that they are often treated as invisible. Being treated in such a way is often dehumanizing. Losing your home should never constitute losing your humanity.

I worked at the Emfasis foundation, dedicated to providing help and integration to people in a situation of begging or refugees who arrive in this city. Using the internationally recognized streetwork methodology. Streetwork can be considered as a context, a discipline, an ethical point of view and an intervention within the disciplinary fields of youth work, community work, social work and health services.

For me, streetwork was a way of telling these people that there are people who care about them, asking how they are doing, what they need; doing a lot of psychological work as well, advice on finding a job, a place to stay, bringing them food, medicine, hygiene products... is doing much-needed human work.

These outreach programs and social and health care for homeless people emerge as an intermediate resource between the street and specialized social and health resources (which are saturated), justifying their relevance to the extent that the situation and the quality of interventions with this improve. population, specifically targeting the most vulnerable homeless people and those furthest from social and health resources.

I meet Marta, a mother of Greek origin who curiously speaks Spanish, was a tourist guide, but due to the crisis and also because times have changed and guides are hardly hired anymore, she is unemployed with a 10-year-old daughter, they have had to live on the streets for a while, now they live in the poorest port area of the city. It's a life in line for welfare, but in the meantime she's getting help from organizations like Emphasis.

The Greek capital is making great strides to improve the lives of those who are homeless, as work is currently underway to not only reduce but completely eliminate homelessness; with plans, bills and initiatives of many of the organizations that work in this area.

THE DIVERSITY OF THE CITY CAPTIVATED ME...

Since you set foot in the city you can see how different cultures mix, that makes you feel very comfortable. I meet people, I hear stories, many. Haya, a Syrian refugee student, who is living for a time in Athens, tells me about her journey from Aleppo to Germany, it seems that Merkel did her homework well when the war broke out or at least for a while... she lived through an ordeal to get to Germany, going through shootings, small boats and refugee camps on the Greek islands... now Haya lives in Munich with her mother and sister and studies architecture, receives German classes and is fully integrated in the country.

I know many immigrants Ahmad tells me how he only came from Pakistan, also passing through Turkey of course, he will not return to his country, nor does he want to, nor can he afford it. I notice all the immigrants that come

"to look for a better life", many from Asia and Africa, without documentation so they cannot access basic services, decent jobs... and although they find a new home in this city, adapting is a huge challenge.

A lot of noise in the street, precariousness and chaos, but I see humanity, coexistence and diversity, and I like that.

In conclusion, homeless people, who live in public spaces or who are on the street, are a reality in all cities and only represent the tip of the iceberg, the most visible part of a much more extensive, structural and complex problem. .

Anyone has a reaction to this situation, for some it is charity and compassion, for others indifference, rejection or aggression, but the one that occurs least unfortunately is commitment and transformation, which is what is needed to make a change in our society.