Housing Program

Housing support program solves probably the most sensitive and the most difficult problem of Roma communities - issue of availability of sale and legal housing. We see this problem in it's historical and geographical context. Roma people in Slovak country side have been ousted to rural areas of municipalities for centuries. They were prevented from owning land, resulting in current massive problems of illegal concentrated Roma settlements.

Through our programs we seek the equality of Roma people with the rest of the population, namely: 

•         Assistance in the legalization of houses built before and after 1976
•        Assistance in the settlements of land ( repurchase, rent...) 
•       Assistance in the construction of new legal houses

OUR EXPERIENCE

     In 2012 we started cooperation with the civic association ETP Slovakia and the municipality of Rankovce within the project " From shack in a 3E House" Our role was to prepare the community for the implementation of such project. We were creating a network of cooperating organisations and partnerships, getting clients involved into the process of that project.  In the beginning the project struggled with a big distrust from the clients. The breakthrouth came after the constructor of first houses. The initial success started an avalanche of unprecedented interest among Roma: not only for Rankovce, but also people the neighbourhood came with an interest to improve their housing. We utilised the experience gained from this pilot project during the second phase of self-construction of 10 houses to private ownership on Rankovce. 

Rankovce:TenHouses ( 2nd phase of construction) 

We have been leading the second phase of construction of low-cost legal houses in partnership wit Rankovce municipality, ETP Slovakia and architect Katarína Smatanová, since 2014. We develop alternative methods of local resources processing such as wood, stone, and clay, with reduce energy consumption and make life in rural areas more effective.

" Project of Your life" 

The project operates in participation of many key players. However, the most important role has the builder himself. Family of the builder has to mobilise its resources ( financial, personal), plan rationally and construct its own legal house. Local government, NGO's ( Association FOR BETTER LIFE, ETP Slovakia) various experts( architect, construction teacher, social worker) accompany the builder during all the phases of the construction we have 10, mostly young families involved. The condition in order to enter the program was to attend 1-year cycle of financial education in the saving program. Long term regular savings on their own savings account  are a resumption affability of the to repay the microloan. Succesfull " savers"  were then offerd an opportunity to purchase a municipal building lot. IT was then followed  by planning of the house, work architect K. Smatanová, getting building permit, micro loan to purchase building material and the construction itself under the supervision of experienced construction professionals. Builders, in addition to the contruction of their  houses, also gain new masonry, plumbing, and capertry skills, which they now also use to success on the labor market. 

Personal Ownership

Personal ownership of house and land makes incredible changes in lives od people form marginalized Roma communities. The acquire a higher social status and associated self- confidence, responsibility, social habits ... 

Personal ownership  acquired not in a cheap way teaches people to relate to things, to protect them and care for them.  By reference to a personal, private, we can then bounce to build relationships to public property. 

House + 

The house is designed for low-income families. It's budget os from 10.000 to 12.000 EURO, in case it is being constrcted by the builder and his/her family. Prices of building materials may be significanty lower for the simultaneous construction of several housing for young families with ambition to become independent and improve living conditions. 

A joint HOUSING PROGRAM 

In September 2015, we entered a joined housing program, together with the organization called Človek v Tísni ( People in Need), in which we interconnect our experience from pilot projects and we are working on expansion of the model of self-construction to villages eastern Slovakia. Our common goal is to establish a new successor organization Projekt DOM.OV, n.o, which will be developing the idea of self- construction of houses in undeveloped Roma communities.