As winter sets in, organisations and city services are warning about the growing risks facing people without shelter.
According to Bratislava’s municipal police spokesperson Barbora Krajčovičová, officers have already intervened 143 times since the start of November — providing first aid, blankets, sleeping bags, hats or gloves, and connecting people with organisations offering food or a safe place to sleep.
The police urge the public to stay alert and call emergency services if someone outdoors appears to be in danger. But as Alexandra Kárová from the organisation Vagus, which helps people experiencing homelessness reintegrate, says support capacities remain limited. Bratislava has up to 5,000 people without a home, while available services can cover only about 20 percent of them.
Tonight, Vagus is organising “Night Out” – Noc vonku, an awareness event taking place in eight Slovak cities including Bratislava, Nitra, Trnava, Žilina, Banská Bystrica, Prešov, Humenné and Košice. It invites people to give up the comfort of their home for one night and sleep outdoors to draw attention to rising poverty and homelessness.
The organisation warns that more than 71,000 people in Slovakia currently live without a home, and almost one million are at risk of falling into poverty. Rising rents and a lack of affordable housing remain key drivers. While solutions exist in the National Strategy for Ending Homelessness, the organisation says they are not being fully applied, leaving NGOs to carry much of the burden.
Source: STVR, TASR
