Sharehouse Refugio

52.4899073 13.4251285Coordinates: 52 ° 29 '23.7 " N , 13 ° 25' 30.5" O The Share House Refugio, now simply Refugio is a residential project in Berlin-Neukölln , where mostly young Escaped together and German. The project sponsor is the Berlin City Mission . The project was started in 2015 by Sven Lager and his wife Elke Naters , the founders of the Sharehaus, and the Berlin City Mission.

history

The Sharehaus Refugio used to be a senior citizens' home run by the Berlin City Mission.

Sven Lager and Elke Naters founded Sharehaus (then still: Sharehouse) South Africa and Sharehaus Kreuzberg in front of the Sharehaus Refugio. The Sharehaus Hermanus in South Africa opened in 2012. It became a meeting point for artists, musicians and young people from different cultures came together. But a homeless person also found refuge in the Hermanus Sharehaus and left the house as a fully fledged part of society. The Sharehaus Refugio was opened on July 1, 2015. The non-profit Sharehaus association itself now also supports other Sharehaus founders and advises people who want to plan or manage community houses. In addition, further share houses are being developed in the city and in the country.

Living together

The house has a total of 33 rooms, half of which are given to refugees and half to locals. It is not a home, but offers private living space like in a large student flat share. The period of residence was initially limited to 18 months for all residents, but the contracts of some residents were extended beyond that. One of the prerequisites for being able to live in the house is to want to actively participate in the community. This is precisely why there is also a selection process for new residents. The residents cook together in communal kitchens, but have private rooms and bathrooms. The language in the house is German. The residents' countries of origin include Iraq, Afghanistan, Turkey, Syria, Eritrea, Bosnia and Palestine.

House lunches are held regularly on Friday evenings where residents meet. Workshops on values were developed and held. There is a chapel on the ground floor of the house where residents can pray regularly. Since the Berliner Stadtmission is the sponsor of the house, many of the local residents are Christians. On Sundays at 5.15 p.m. the Kreuzbergprojekt, a young church, celebrates a modern church service with praise in the Refugio Hall. On Tuesdays the Kreuzberg project organizes a morning prayer at 8.30 a.m. at the same place.

The Sharehaus is also open to the public. For example, there is a public café on the ground floor. However, events for the public are also organized in-house. These include, for example, Syrian dance evenings or language cafés.

House structure

Roof terrace of the Sharehouse Refugio

The house itself has five floors. There is a public café on the ground floor. There is also a large hall in which conferences can be held, which can be converted into a dance hall or in which services can be held. There is also a prayer room . In addition, the organizations querstadtein and Givetsomethingbacktoberlin have their offices on the ground floor. The house also works with the Tailwind initiative, in which broken bicycles are made roadworthy for refugees, or with an overdell rim , in order to design the roof garden of the house together or to carry out other gardening projects.

On the first and second floors there are studios of artists and workshops. The office of the Kreuzberg project is on the third floor.

The remaining floors are rented to residents. There are rehearsal rooms for musicians in the basement.

On the sixth floor there is a pavilion and a roof terrace that can be rented but also serve as a meeting point for the residents. The house was also conceived as a modern city monastery, inspired by Dietrich Bonhoeffer's vision, in which belief is not withdrawn but lived with others. The place offers silence and tranquility and sometimes retreats, meditations, mindfulness exercises and seminars are offered. There is also a pilgrims room for visitors.

financing

The project is financed through the means of the Berliner Stadtmission as a carrier. The house also earns money by renting the pavilion, roof terrace and conference hall. The living area is financed by the rent. It is planned in the long term that the residents develop their own ideas with which the house can be financed. Co-working should be developed, workshops should be planned and social enterprises should be developed together and networks should be expanded with friendly initiatives.