The project aims to be the first implementation in Poland of the innovative "Housing First" (NM) method, aimed at people with mental illness and the long-term homeless. The project will be implemented in several Warsaw districts and will benefit 40 participants, all of whom have been involved in the city for at least several years.
The current model of assistance for permanently homeless individuals who also suffer from mental illness, despite the significant investment of time and resources in providing interventional support, social services, shelter, and stays in collective institutions, proves ineffective. This is evidenced by the numerous stays of the same individuals in successive shelters, frequent hospitalizations, police interventions, arrests, uncollectible debts, and the helplessness of staff at institutions attempting to help.
In Europe, the USA, Canada, and Australia, the NM method has proven effective and cost-effective (taking into account the total expenditure of unsuccessfully engaged institutions) in permanently transitioning extremely excluded people to a full and dignified life in independent housing. The Finnish foundation , The Y-Foundation , is a European leader in transforming traditional support systems towards systems based on the NM paradigm. Since Finland adopted the NM method as its official partner, the scale of homelessness there has dropped to almost zero. The Y-Foundation was the main architect of this change. The project's national partner is the Housing Policy Office of the Capital City of Warsaw and Housing First Poland Foundation .
In the Cooperation Fund Foundation's project, the NM method will be implemented in accordance with the principles of Housing First Fidelity . The apartments, provided by the project's national partner, the Capital City of Warsaw, will be dispersed throughout the local community. Staying in them will be contingent on meeting strict tenancy rules. Support will be based on the NM principles of " assertive engagement," "absence of coercion," and "harm reduction," and will be provided by a team of specialists comprised of doctors, psychotherapists, community therapists, a social worker, a lawyer, a job coach, and experienced experts.
The project staff consists of people recognized by the national and international expert community, with long-standing connections with Warsaw, excellent knowledge of its social and institutional environment, and extensive experience in all areas necessary to implement the NM program: community psychiatry, therapy, housing and homelessness, implementation, evaluation and scaling of innovations financed by the EU.
