Prague’s new day center for the homeless is an inconspicuous building beneath the highway overpass near Hlavní nádraží.
On a recent Monday morning, a small group clustered near its entrance, rubbing their arms and shuffling about to chase away the early winter chill. Soon, the door unlocks and the weathered clients file inside. Some stop for a brief chat with Mr. Brož, the caretaker, others wait in silence to record their names in the logbook before dispersing into the common room, where they read, write letters or simply doze off after having a hot meal.Managed by Naděje, a local nongovernmental aid organization for the underprivileged, the center opened Nov. 1 as a replacement for a similar facility on nearby Bolzanova street that closed last year. The new center’s U Bulhara street location is a stone’s throw from the main train station, making it easily accessible for the local homeless.“Last Friday, a total of 114 clients visited the center, which I’m quite happy about,” says Petra Lakatošová, regional director of Naděje’s Prague branch. As one of Naděje’s founding projects, the old day center on Bolzanova street had been in operation for 13 years when a 2005 restitution case ruling forced its shutdown. “The property was returned to its former owners, who sold the building shortly after they acquired it,” Lakatošová says. “We received the eviction notice in June 2006.”After nearly a two-year hiatus, Lakatošová is relieved to see the new center up and running. “For an entire year, we had no replacement,” she says. “The smaller center on Bolzanova remained open, but its capacity was in no way adequate.”Although the search for a new facility began in 2005, Lakatošová says it took years to find financial resources and obtain a construction permit.“In the winter, the old center accommodated as many as 350 clients, so we were looking for a comparable replacement,” she says. “It’s not easy for a nonprofit to find money for such a big project.”In the end, Prague City Hall donated a parking lot beneath Wilsonova expressway — one of Prague’s main arteries — and a portion of the construction expenditures to help build the day center. Additional help came from the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry, which provided 75 percent of the funding, Lakatošová says.Life at the centerDespite its austere, garagelike exterior, the facility is a welcome respite for Prague’s homeless population, which usually doubles in the wintertime, according to city councilor Jiří Janeček. Although it is difficult to pinpoint an exact figure, Janeček estimates their current numbers at around 2,500.“In the summer, many clients head out of the city, where they can make a bit of money doing seasonal work, usually in the agribusiness,” says Petr Beneš, director of Naděje’s old day center on Bolzanova. “In the winter, it becomes a lot harder to survive.”Although many homeless initially seek out the center for its promise of warmth, nourishment and hot showers, the main goal, Janeček says, is to place them back on the path toward social reintegration. Upon their first visit to the Naděje day center, clients are encouraged to meet with staff physicians, psychiatrists and social workers, who help them set goals to overcome their problems, which range from gambling, drug and alcohol addiction to schizophrenia or joblessness. “Most of these people have severed ties with their families, or have never had them to begin with,” Lakatošová says.Males account for about 85 percent of Prague’s homeless, she adds.“Sometimes it’s a combination of factors — a man will get divorced and leave the apartment to his wife, lose his job and find himself on the street.”In an effort to find work and accommodation, many clients turn to the day center for help in renewing lost or stolen identification to enable them to register with the Labor Office, Beneš says. Because the new center is only open during the day, Naděje social workers also help clients find accommodation in one of the city’s overnight centers. With the addition of a 230-bed houseboat, which the City of Prague opened last winter, the city’s homeless shelters can accommodate up to 437 people, or about one-fifth of Prague’s wintertime homeless population.When they do not find accommodation in one of these shelters, the homeless “spend the night wherever they can,” Lakatošová says. “They sleep on buses and trams, or in warm-water sewers, basements and abandoned shacks. Sometimes, they fall asleep right on the pavement by the train station — no one can go on too long without sleep.”
(Prague Post)
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