Mixed Living, residents who live with and collaborate with highly vulnerable people

Aina Relats on 30 May 2023

Mixed social housing blocks of flats where homeless and economically vulnerable people live together, which is beneficial for both groups. It facilitates access to housing more quickly for many people while the community activities carried out in the buildings promote social reintegration and break down the social isolation and stigmatisation of homeless people.conviuen persones sense llar i persones vulnerables econòmicament, fet que és beneficiós per a tots dos grups. Facilita l’accés a l’habitatge en un temps més ràpid per a moltes persones alhora que les activitats comunitàries realitzades als edificis promouen la reinserció social i trenquen amb l’aïllament social i l’estigmatització de les persones sense llar.

Mixed Living is a form of housing in which 70% of the people who live there are on low incomes and in need of social housing and the remaining 30% are people who are vulnerable, usually homeless people who are beneficiaries of the Housing First programme. Both parties must comply with the previously established conditions of commitment and rules, mainly regarding the care of the environment they share. Participating in this social accompaniment programme is advantageous for people in the first group, reducing their waiting time for access to social housing.

It is also clearly favourable for homeless people —and not only, because the programme is also aimed at people with a lack of social network or psychological problems— for whom the contact and cohabitation with other residents facilitates their social reintegration. In this sense, the shared housing enables proximity between the two groups with common meeting spaces that make it easier for them to have coffee, watch a football match or look after the courtyard. The project is supervised by professionals who visit the block of flats at least once a week and are responsible for assessing and managing the functioning of the cohabitation.

Characteristics of innovation

Cross-cutting intervention, Fully inclusive cities, Homelessness and the right to housing, Independent living, Link with the community, New model of intervention, New service, Personalization of the service, Prediction and prevention, Process simplification, Proximity care, Self-management and participation, User empowerment

Localization

Utrecht, Netherlands

Partners / Funders

Tussenvoorziening

Genesis

Tussenvoorziening was born with the aim to act for people in the region of Utrecht in the Netherlands who are unable to do it themselves, especially to help people who are homeless or in financial difficulties. Concretely, the Mixed Living project was born and has been implemented in Utrecht since 2003. Since then, it has materialised in eight buildings in the region: Groene Stricht (2003), Parana (2014), Majella (2016), Place2BU (2018), Seyster Veste (2020), Mixito (2020), Livin (2020), Meander (2020).

Level of implementation

The data shows that the likelihood of a person becoming homeless again is much lower if they have lived in a mixed housing project and that, after a few years, they often manage to have a rental contract in their name, which is an indicator of the success of the project.

More information

Logo Tussenvoorziening website

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Fenix, a therapeutic garden and orchard for drug addicts

Aina Relats on 16 May 2023

Through urban agro-ecology, the Fénix project in the city of Barcelona promotes the social and occupational inclusion of people undergoing treatment for drug addiction. The therapeutic garden and orchard, developed under the slogan “Cultivating new opportunities”, also contributes to destigmatising the group of people with addictions.

The project is located on the grounds of the Care and Monitoring Centre (CAS) in Sarrià (Barcelona), which has become a climatic refuge within the city. It has a total of 10 hectares and works by applying regenerative cultivation techniques, i.e. the approach to plant production is respectful, ecological and sustainable. The facility enables the personalisation of social insertion itineraries that improve the employability of the participants, who take part in the whole process, from the cultivation and maintenance of the plants to the organisation of the tasks and economic planning, in relation to the promotion and sale of the cultivated products. The participants receive basic training in agroecology and gain experience in social entrepreneurship and marketing of the products. The project also enables participants to be self-sufficient in food and promotes responsible consumption and a sustainable food system.

The project has a community aspect, with the garden being at the same time a space for exchange and use by organisations and people from the district who need to meet or carry out outdoor activities. In addition, the resulting food is destined to social services, so that people with addictions who participate in the Garden and Hort Fènix multiply the social impact they receive by helping other people.