How to House the house-less

Zeru with Abene, Mulukan, and Teshoma in their new house.

First off I am not using the "homeless" word anymore. I will start to use "house-less"

One thing we have strived to do in this endeavor is get to know who we are serving, and what they really need- not what I think they need or you think they need. That is why for the first three months with these boys we didn't give them anything but let them borrow a soccer ball.

These boys of Club Anbesa are mostly house-less. (There are 5 now housed through donations- which by the way is about $25 per month for 2 to 3 boys-
if you are interested in giving in that way. Anyone donating in this way must commit at least a year if possible to keep from the funds running out and resulting in the boys losing their homes)

When our housing initiative began we told the boys about the plan. 3 boys to a rented room in a compound in the community. Each boy would contribute 50 bir per month toward the rent cost, and the rest would be taken care of. That means less than 2 bir per day.

Most of the boys realized this was absolutely do-able by them as they work odd jobs each day- some days getting 10 bir, others none. But 50 bir they all agreed was a manageable amount of money for rent.

There was, however, one boy who decided that day to leave Club Anbesa. He turned in his shoes, uniform, and continued to walk and talk with us as part of the team. I finally asked why and discovered he was not ready to live in a building.

I explained he was not required to live in a house! It was an option open for team members, if they wanted... He took his shoes and uniform back! Legessa is still on Club Anbesa!

Abene also was one of 6 boys at one time housed. He decided the street was more comfortable for him. He traded with Tariku who is now living in his place. Abene is still happily active in Club Anbesa and working hard every day.

Matwes - the smallest boy on the Club- was housed with two older boys in a room. After one or two weeks he moved out voluntarily. He was not ready for the pressures of having the community watching him live! Now after several months he is on a waiting list to try again.

Point of this is: A HOUSE is not necessarily a HOME. To many of these boys the street is their home, with or without a house.

HOW to house the house-less:

First, on their terms, not forced. If they do not want to live in a house, then they should not be forced to.

Second we have made a program to allow future sustainability. The boys are required to pay a small manageable rent, and after several months rent is increased. This is done on a case by case basis and along side our small business micro-loan program. As the boys are able to support themselves slowly more and more, their part of the cost is slowly increased while donations will be slowly weaned off.

At this point they will be able to financially care for themselves.

Third, community integration for future success, not segregation. Many programs pull the street community together into one facility- which makes them manageable, but does not help them integrate into society. We are renting individual rooms within the community, educating the home owners, and encouraging integration into their local society so in the future they will more likely succeed within society they live in, rather than keep them isolated.

We chose 2 to 3 boys per house because culturally this is acceptable, it is more financially manageable, and they are neither left to face life on their own, nor housed all together like a shelter.