Homelessness is a condition; a situation that many people just fall into, either by their own fault or due to unforeseen circumstances. If it persist, it can significantly impair the mental health, social skills, and chances of workplace reintegration of the homeless person.

Our goal is to create space in a homeless shelter for community activities that can provide a more dignified, pleasant environment for the people living there. Joint activities strengthen the community and the social and coping abilities of their participants, provide motivation, energy, a sense of accomplishment, and raise the quality of life for the residents, which can contribute to the success of their reintegration into the majority society.

We are designing a community garden at the Táblás Street Shelter of BMSZKI (Budapest Methodological Centre of Social Policy and Its Institutions) where residents can relax, chat, garden or play sports. A ping pong table, a chess and card table, a petanque and tetherball court, outdoor cooking area, barbecue grill, and a foil tent for growing plants throughout the year will provide spots for relaxation, exercise and useful activities. (Plans may vary depending on their feasibility.)

The secondary purpose of the leisure park is to allow on-site CSR programs, team building trainings for employees of a company or organization to visit the shelter’s residents in their own living space if they wish to help or to organize a joint activity with them. We plan to host the Budapest Bike Maffia Teambuilding Project at this shelter, a venue where corporate volunteers and shelter residents can cook and grill together and get to know each other.

The Team:
Zsuzsa Mátraházi – Project Manage

If you have any questions about the project, contact Zsuzsa (at zsuzsa.matrahazi@bikemaffia.com)!

Photo by: Júlia Halász

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