Homelessness in Austria

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For homeless people and people who are threatened with homelessness in Austria , there are organizations that offer their free help and support in order to jointly prevent a possible eviction or to find an apartment again.

definition

Founding documents of the association Social aid for vulnerable women and children (1978), the first Viennese women's shelter created

In Austria , the definition according to the European typology for homelessness, homelessness and precarious housing supply (ETHOS), which was developed by the European umbrella organization for assistance to the homeless (FEANTSA), applies:

Homeless therefore means that people live in certain facilities for a limited period of time. These are not permanent living spaces. These institutions offer the opportunity to live in the short to medium term. These include, in particular, transitional residences and apartments, asylums, (temporary) hostels, women's shelters , reception centers, quarters for labor migration, prisons, penal institutions, hospitals, sanatoriums, youth homes, long-term residential homes for older homeless people and outpatient care in individual apartments.

Please note the differentiation from other terms:

  • Unsecured housing affects people who do not have a primary residence and are dependent on the goodwill of other people, who violate other people's property rights and who cannot produce a valid legal title . People who have been evicted and who have been subjected to violence in their own homes also live in unsecured living conditions.
  • As inadequate housing is defined when someone lives in places that are not designated as conventional accommodation, for example, in caravans or tents or in makeshift assembled structures. Buildings that have been closed for residential purposes, are about to be demolished or have been classified as unsuitable by an official body are also assigned to this category.
  • Homeless people live on the street or in public places with no shelter. People in emergency shelters without a permanent residence and who stay overnight in low-threshold facilities are also homeless.

Reasons for homelessness

Homeless man on park bench

The Ministry of Social Affairs gives the following reasons for possible homelessness:

  • Eviction due to rent debts and "intolerable behavior"
  • Discharge from clinics, sanatoriums, addiction support facilities or psychological facilities in the case of inpatient treatment
  • Dismissal from youth welfare and educational assistance due to inpatient treatment
  • Detachment from the family in young adults and adolescents
  • Release from pre- trial or criminal detention and execution of measures
  • domestic violence and thus the escape from the community
  • Separation of living communities
  • Loss of job
  • Release of asylum seekers from federal care in the event of positive and negative asylum applications.
Loss of work is the cause of 42% of homelessness.

Further reasons for homelessness were surveyed by the Vienna Social Fund (FSW) in 2016. The 2500 respondents said:

  • 42% of the people had become unemployed and could no longer pay the rent.
  • 32% had been separated or divorced.
  • 26% were too careless or wrong with their money.
  • 23% lost their home due to a mental illness.
  • 21% lost their home due to physical illness.

Homelessness also arises from developments in the housing and labor market. The housing cost burden, housing problems such as overcrowding or poor quality of housing can be signs of future homelessness. The Association of the Vienna Homeless Aid explains that a reduction in the minimum income also means that the actual cost of living can often no longer be covered and that this can lead to increased homelessness.

Due to the lack of uniform minimum standards, each federal state can specify different benefits. By tightening or reducing the needs-based minimum income, relatives are at risk of slipping into homelessness.

Due to homelessness, participation in social life is no longer conceivable. In many cases the end of social relationships has usually been reached and a break in the development of personal identity.

Auxiliary equipment

Vinzihaus at the Vinzenzkirche in Graz
The crypt in Vienna-Mariahilf
The second Caritas crypt in Vienna-Währing

Lower Austria

Caritas Niederösterreich runs a counseling center that supports tenants in Lower Austria if they are about to lose their homes and need help to keep their homes.

Carinthia

ARGE SOZIAL Villach supports people with psychosocial and economic problems. The private and non-profit association offers, among other things, social counseling and support and a day care center.

Caritas also offers a day care center in Carinthia. The employees help with the search for accommodation, offer financial support and arrange accommodation.

Volkshilfe Kärnten runs the Hilda Schärf House. It offers accommodation for homeless people or those at risk of homelessness. The social workers support and accompany people to get their own apartment. Volkshilfe Kärnten also runs a women's sleeping place.

Burgenland

In Burgenland there is an emergency shelter in Oberwart , which is available for a total of 6 men. There is another emergency shelter in Eisenstadt , which is open to women and men. It can accommodate 10 people. These emergency sleeping places are run by Caritas Burgenland . With advice and support from the social workers, an attempt is made to find a solution for returning to a regular life.

In Eisenstadt there is an additional emergency shelter that mainly accommodates women living alone, women with children and families. The Burgenland social house provides 12 residential units and takes care of these people who are in social distress.

Upper Austria

The Samaritan Association supports homeless people in Linz .

Salzburg

The Samariterbund supports homeless people in Salzburg .

Styria

The Caritas Styria in offering Graz an emergency accommodation, the Ark 38, which represents 30 domestic and foreign men available. FranzisCa is the first point of contact for women and their children . The Schlupfhaus is an emergency shelter for young people up to the age of 21, which has space for 5 girls and 7 boys.

The Vinzenzgemeinschaft runs the VinziNest in Eggenberg , which operates an emergency sleeping place for 80 male foreigners. The VinziSchutz is a night shelter for 24 foreign women.

Vorarlberg

The dowas association offers an emergency sleeping place for 11 men and women in Bregenz . The Caritas Vorarlberg operates two shelters in Feldkirch and Bludenz . Here, too, there is advice to find an individual solution.

Vienna

Siemensstrasse house of the Vienna Social Fund
The Max Winter house of the Samaritan Union

The Vienna Social Fund (FSW) plans, controls and designs the diverse range of services offered by the Vienna homeless assistance in close cooperation with the partner organizations Wiener Rotes Kreuz , Caritas , Samariterbund Wien and wieder Wohnen . Every year around 10,000 people take advantage of the Vienna homeless assistance service. There are around 300 night beds available.

The employees of the Advice Center for Homeless Aid of the Vienna Social Fund provide information about the benefits of the assistance to the homeless and possible subsidies. If the requirements are met, homeless people, couples, families and mothers with children can be placed in subsidized and supervised places.

Obdach Wien , a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Vienna Social Fund, provides apartments or places to live. You are entitled to these seats if the person

  • has become homeless or homeless in Vienna,
  • does not have a place to sleep or is about to lose the apartment,
  • has Austrian citizenship or is equivalent to Austrian citizens,
  • has social difficulties and is unable to help himself out of this situation,
  • need professional help to lead an independent life and household
  • and is motivated to improve one's own life situation.

The Caritas of the Archdiocese of Vienna offers a central contact point for homeless people in Vienna. The P7 arranges overnight emergency beds for adult homeless people. In addition to finding a place to sleep, Caritas provides social counseling to help find solutions to a social emergency and threatened homelessness.

The Star of the Red Cross on Praterstern in Vienna is a counseling center for the homeless. The experts at the homeless help advise and look after helpless and homeless people. At the same time, it is a day center where visitors can get coffee and tea, cook their own meals and do their laundry. The star is aimed at acutely homeless, adults. People of legal age who often stay at the Praterstern, people who have already been provided with housing and those who are not entitled to benefits from the Vienna homeless assistance are also welcome.

In Vienna the Samariterbund runs the houses R3 , Sama , Max Winter and the WohnenPlus RIGA . The people are looked after by social workers, social pedagogues and residential carers. They offer those seeking help support, perspectives and implementation strategies in order to be able to live independently and unsupervised in the future.

The Vienna Relief Organization is primarily aimed at homeless women and families who are threatened or already affected by homelessness. The award is made by the Advice Center for Homeless Aid of the Vienna Social Fund.

The specialist agency for housing security (FAWOS) of Wiener Volkshilfe looks after people who are threatened with losing their home. It offers advice and support to those affected and thus works preventively against homelessness. FAWOS helps tenants of private and cooperative apartments who may lose their apartment because they have received a court notice, have problems paying the rent or are asked to move out. FAWOS provides information on tenancy and procedural matters, mediation with property management and owners, possible insurance and social benefits, crisis intervention, solutions to reduce the rent arrears and development of a financial plan.

statistics

The number of registered homeless people was 21,567 in 2017. The total annual number in 2017 is around 13,900 registered homeless people (people with a main residence confirmation) and 8,700 people in facilities for the homeless. Of the approximately 21,500 homeless, around 41 percent were housed for some time in an institution for the homeless.

In Vienna there are around 5,700 places to live, care for and sleep in 100 facilities. The City of Vienna spends more than 60 million euros annually on assistance for the homeless, which also includes counseling facilities, day centers, street social work, medical care, assisted transitional housing facilities and socially assisted permanent living.

Homelessness in Austria

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ European Federation of National Associations Working with the Homeless AISBL: ETHOS - European typology for homelessness, homelessness and precarious housing. In: Federal Association for Homeless Aid. Retrieved February 21, 2019 .
  2. ↑ Heinz Schoibl: Housing shortage and homelessness Update of the data overview Availability of data, quality and informative value of the available materials. Ministry of Social Affairs, May 2013, accessed February 21, 2019 .
  3. ↑ Facts on homelessness and homelessness. Retrieved February 21, 2019 .
  4. ↑ Matthias Till, Johannes Klotz, Christina Siegert: Inclusion Indicators 2017 Key figures for social inclusion in Austria. In: www.sozialministerium.at. Federal Statistics Austria, November 2018, p. 28 , accessed on February 21, 2019 .
  5. ^ Association of Vienna Homeless Aid (ed.): Greetings from the hammock Myths and facts about the welfare state . Vienna November 2017, p. 7 .
  6. ^ Association of Vienna Homeless Aid (ed.): Greetings from the hammock Myths and facts about the welfare state . Vienna November 2017, p. 11 .
  7. ↑ Emergency shelter. March 7, 2019, accessed March 14, 2019 .
  8. ^ Caritas Lower Austria. Accessed May 31, 2019 .
  9. ↑ ARGE SOCIAL Villach. Accessed May 31, 2019 .
  10. ^ Caritas Carinthia. Accessed May 31, 2019 .
  11. ↑ People's Aid Carinthia. Accessed May 31, 2019 .
  12. ↑ Oberwart emergency shelter. March 6, 2019, accessed March 14, 2019 .
  13. ↑ Social Burgenland. Retrieved March 14, 2019 .
  14. ↑ a b c Help for the homeless. Samaritan Association, September 22, 2016, accessed March 8, 2019 .
  15. ↑ Emergency shelter. March 7, 2019, accessed March 18, 2019 .
  16. ↑ Emergency shelter. March 7, 2019, accessed March 18, 2019 .
  17. ↑ Hatchhouse. Caritas Steiermark, accessed on March 17, 2019 .
  18. ↑ VinziNest. In: VinziWerke. Retrieved March 18, 2019 (German).
  19. ↑ VinziSchutz. In: VinziWerke. Retrieved March 18, 2019 (German).
  20. ↑ DOWAS: Emergency shelter - DOWAS. Retrieved March 14, 2019 .
  21. ↑ Emergency shelter. March 7, 2019, accessed March 14, 2019 .
  22. ↑ ktv_creitmayr: Viennese assistance for the homeless. Retrieved March 2, 2019 .
  23. ↑ Aid for the homeless. Retrieved March 8, 2019 .
  24. ↑ Facts on homelessness and homelessness. Retrieved February 21, 2019 .
  25. ↑ P7 - Vienna Service for the Homeless. February 28, 2019, accessed March 2, 2019 .
  26. ^ Red Cross Vienna: Das Stern. Austrian Red Cross, accessed March 2, 2019 .
  27. ↑ Aid for the homeless. Retrieved March 8, 2019 .
  28. ↑ FAWOS - Specialist Office for Housing Security. In: Volkshilfe Wien. Retrieved March 12, 2019 .
  29. ↑ Matthias Till, Johannes Klotz, Christina Siegert: Inclusion indicators 2017. Key figures for social inclusion in Austria. In: www.sozialministerium.at. Federal Statistics Austria, November 2018, p. 27 , accessed on March 28, 2019 .
  30. ↑ ktv_creitmayr: Viennese assistance for the homeless. Retrieved March 2, 2019 .
  31. ↑ Statistics Austria, poverty and social exclusion 2008 to 2016. p. 31 , accessed on March 12, 2019 .