With few safety nets in place, it’s easy to find your life turned upside down after a relationship breakdown, rental scam or eviction – and not enough state provision to provide shelter and a way out.
Stefka and her family once lived in a warm apartment with a bathroom and a big living room. She loved cooking, and her husband had a job in construction. But they became abruptly homeless when her stepdaughter threw them out. She, Todor and their two children now take shelter in an abandoned cafe. Conditions are unsanitary, and there is no running water. To wash their dishes and clothes, the family have to travel 20 kilometres by public transport to Sofia, where they fill their plastic bottles from a warm mineral spring.
“I want my children to feel like other children – to have a room of their own, to simply be able to come home from school and have a shower,” Stefka said.
Without running water or facilities, it is difficult for the family to keep clean, which is a problem when looking for work. And as Pamela and Kristian’s clothes are shabby and dirty, they are often mocked by their classmates.
Mission Without Borders (MWB) supports homeless people in Sofia through its Street Mercy project. As well as giving out warm soup and bread every weekday, we also provide warm clothes and blankets to support people through the cold winter. We do anything else we can: helping people access hospital treatment, providing them with face masks, and supporting others to obtain ID documents they need.