How do perceive homeless people?

Do you ever walk past a begging man in the square and you wonder why this person begs here, why he does not go to work? Why doesn’t he do something useful and just sit here all day long? I won’t give him any money, since he would still spend it on alcohol and cigarettes.

Honestly, I have also thought of something like this before, so I solved it by giving money to some and not to others. I wasn’t sure what a right thing to do was. Several times, also one of the already deceased homeless people Palo, greeted me and I did not know how to react. I was just always told not to talk to such people, because you would only get into trouble with them.

Gradually, however, I became more and more aware of the fact that nobody simply picked a life on the streets. Nevertheless, it occurred to me, after some time that we need to help homeless people in some way. Each of us can be happy that we have a roof over our heads and do not deal with any existential problems. But some people were not that lucky and it was not always their fault how they ended up.

Finally, I had an opportunity to meet great people from the CA Vagus. Why was this meeting interesting to me? Since we support various philanthropic projects, I always prefer to meet people who are involved in the activities of the association. A personal approach gives me a better view of the situations many people in need get into every day. In that way I can at least partially understand what it can be like to live on the streets.

Firstly, I met people from CA Vagus at the Open Day in Nová Cvernovka, where I got acquainted with the project Housing first Cverna. This project is unique in that it provides a real and safe home for several people who are paying monthly advantaged rent. Over time, it will turn out how they were able to re-enter society. I believe that such a project will really help us better understand the integration of homeless people into society.

Yet, can you imagine that you have no place to live, worry about your belongings, have no assurances, have no place to take a shower, wash your clothes, or you are sick or injured in the street? Nobody would treat you without a paid health insurance, you are entirely on the edge of society, nobody cares about you, you don’t have access to information and the Internet, you don’t even know how and where to get your new ID. Fortunately, there is a daily center Domec that can help in these cases.

How can one look for a job in this environment and under these conditions?

Therefore, if you think next time about how you can help your homeless friend, donate to CA Vagus with a request that you donate the amount to help a particular person. They will then know what this person needs at most.

I would like to thank once again the entire CA Vagus team for a possibility to have an insight into their everyday reality.

The surprising thing for me was that now a lot of people who come to the day center Domec and we met there once during lunch started to greet me at Račianske mýto. In the end, we are all human beings and we are all equal.

This article was written in cooperation with CA Vagus.

This content can be copied and distributed further only in the unchanged form.

Author: Mgr. Denisa Petrášová (marketing and philanthropy manager, IMP Kontakt spol. s r.o.)