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"Our parish priest had classed us as a large family and we were getting 5 servings of food from the social kitchen. We were eating three at lunch and two in the evening." His wife left him with his son in October 2008, "because he was not bringing money to the house." He went to a church in Sepolia to ask for help, he was ashamed to do it in his own neighborhood. Believers gathered funds and he managed to pay the rents that were due. He left the little things he had and his motorcycle in a friend’s house and went out on the street.

"On the street I met people who offered me to start robbing stores, gave me weapons, drugs. I never had anything to do with such people. I was the head of a family. I am looking for a job, I'm not a thief"...

From London to the streets of Athens

45-year-old Panagiotis had graduated International Relations and European Studies at the London University of Hertfordshire. He returned to Greece and could not find a job in his field, so he started working as a chef and later as a salesman in an electrical company. In 2006 he bought with a mortgage a home of 70 square meters in Ano Patisia. In 2008 he was left unemployed. "Except for four hour jobs in call centers, I could not find anything else."

Loan instalments started coming in late. At one point unemployment benefits stopped as well. In early 2010, after many outstanding bills the bank took his home. "At first I was sleeping in friends houses, and then in an abandoned building in Ano Patisia." His parents are deceased. His two brothers have their own families and their own financial problems. How was the first night on the street? "Filled with fear. I will never forget it." Today, he sleeps in a homeless shelter. "Sleeping on the street practically means death. You turn into a wild beast."

Intervention
Ada Alamanou

Head of the Center for homeless support of the non-government organization "Klimaka", "Konstantinoupoleos" Street № 30, Keramikos, tel: 2103410462.

Poverty increases

"Poverty is steadily increasing and the homeless problem is more real than ever. Today's new homeless have had a satisfactory standard of living. They have never even imagined they would be facing problems of survival. The huge change is a shock for them. Often they hide their situation from their families, because they are ashamed, or simply to not become a burden. Neither the state nor society are interested in people living in such a situation. It is unacceptable that such a serious social problem should be resolved only by charities. The right to shelter is protected by the constitution."