The “homeless” phenomenon has taken on unprecedented proportions in the streets of Athens and other cities in Greece. It is estimated that today nearly 20,000 people sleep on the streets, in abandoned houses and empty warehouses around the country, and many more are just a few steps away from such a tragic situation. Yesterday’s home owners fall into extreme poverty because of escalating unemployment, minimal or nonexistent income.
Such people are also Panagiotis, Leonidas, Lambros. Working people. Some with an education, others with families. Heads of families who were either renting or paying mortgages for their homes. Crisis and unemployment hit them mercilessly. Today these are the new homeless, the new generation of the street...
"It never even crossed my mind that I would get to this point. I cried a lot, especially in the beginning when I was sleeping on a bench in Syntagma Square. Do you see how life changes?". We meet the 47-year old Leonidas at the homeless shelter of the non-government organization "Klimaka." Before being fired he was working on a construction site as part of a group of 60 people. "We were all left without a job." He got to the point where he could not pay his 280 Euros rent for his two bedroom apartment in Kalithea. His parents are deceased. He never got married and has no family. "Fortunately, as it turned out. Ending up homeless in this crisis is not at all difficult. If you live only from your wages and you lose them, then what do you do?".
Leonidas is right. Evaluations of the appropriate institutions are discouraging. Municipal councilor and chairman of the Foundation for the homeless, George Apostolopoulos talks about a 15 percent increase in people left homeless and hungry in comparison to last year, at the same time there have been signs of an even greater wave in recent months, while the interest in "social stores" is increasing constantly. (Such were created in Greece for the first time in 2007 in collaboration with a large chain of grocery stores. Those stores offer free food and other essential supplies to families in need who are selected by a special commission. The service is offered for a period of 6 to 12 months, while a programme is prepared for these families so that they can stand on their own two feet and continue to independently support themselves).
However, the non-government organization "Klimaka" states that the homeless have increased by 20 to 25 percent. In any case, all who are familiar with the issue agree that except for the quantity the differences are also qualitative.
Their profile
"The profile of people living on the streets has changed. People who until recently were able, though with difficulty to cover their daily needs, now ind themselves in this situation because of unemployment, low or totally non-existent incomes, and inability to support their families. These people are either of productive age, young people with a salary of 500 Euros or people who have lost their jobs shortly before retirement.
In comparison to the traditional homeless they have an average to higher education, do not have mental health problems, addictions or problems with the law," note experts from "Klimaka." In the Foundation for the homeless, George Apostolopoulos also sees young people who were once businessmen, now living in misery. "They appear with raincoats, sometimes even with a laptop in hand, seeking food and shelter"...
What the new homeless remember is their first night on the street. Leonidas was roaming around the streets all night like a madman. "After long nights of insomnia, I fell asleep on a bench in "Syntagma" Square. When I opened my eyes, people were looking at me. I died of shame"...
Streets of despair
Convert a bench or a car into a bed
The stories of the "new homeless" are alike. These are stories of unemployment, people who fall into poverty, with the collapse of the construction, and other, industries of the Greek economy.
Lambros, 55, was a building contractor. He had a house in Keratsini, but sold it to save his wife, who was ill with cancer. Over the past 11 years they had been renting a three-bedroom apartment in the Nikea neighborhood. Since 2008 work decreased significantly. In 2009 his wife died, and he found it really hard to pay the 600 Euros rent. Last year in November, he rented a studio for 150 Euros.
"I couldn’t even pay this. I got to the point where I had no money even to buy a coffee." Since last February, he is homeless. At first he was sleeping in his car. "I was ashamed of the people in my neighborhood, so I parked in remote locations such as Haidari park. But I was afraid. I found a street in Metaksourgio neighborhood and I stayed there two months. I would get up at 6 in the morning so no one would see me". We meet him in the "Klimaka” homeless shelter. "I used to look at the homeless and feel sorry for them. I had never even imagined that I would end up in the same situation"...
46-year-old Yiannis sleeps in an "Audi", parked on "Konstantinoupoleos" street. "I have been afraid many times. Different people come by and kick the doors." Until last year he had been renting a three bedroom apartment in Kolonos. He was working as an electrician taking on large projects, and later on as a driver. He has been unemployed since 2008.
"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."
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