Plzeň is building a center for homeless women and a counseling service for foreigners

Plzeň – A daytime center for homeless women will start serving in Plzeň in a year and a half. The city today began construction at the diocesan charity site for just under 70 million crowns. The low-threshold center operated by the organization Naděje will provide a safe space for women who have found themselves on the street. They will receive material assistance, hygiene services, and counseling. The second part of the building will house a counseling center for foreigners operated by the diocesan charity, said Svetlana Budková (STAN), the councilor for housing, accessibility, and social housing, to ČTK today.

According to her, homeless women are the most vulnerable group among the homeless. In Plzeň, there are about 500 homeless people, with women making up approximately one-fifth of them.

Female homelessness is often not visible at first glance, as women often hide it themselves. They sleep at friends' places, switch locations, or stay in dangerous relationships and often ask for help only when the situation becomes very serious. Many of them have experiences with domestic violence, trauma, or abuse. In social services that are shared by men and women, they often do not feel well and are afraid to openly talk about what they have experienced, said Luboš Protivínský, regional director of Naděje.

Similar facilities exist only in Prague in the Czech Republic. It will include contact and consultation spaces, a social and relaxation room, a laundry, a bathroom, a wardrobe, food and hygiene storage, and other facilities. "It will be a daytime service that, in addition to hygiene, food, and the possibility of resting, will primarily offer professional social work and assistance in finding a more long-term solution," said Protivínský. He estimated that about 20 women in need will use the center daily.

The three-story building will be completed in 15 months after the demolition of part of the old building. It will be barrier-free with an elevator, a green roof, and photovoltaic panels. It will be connected to the rest of the original building.

The second part will be a counseling center for foreigners, to whom the charity has been providing services since 1996. "The counseling center, which in recent years has had large language centers and community work, needs new facilities," said Jiří Lodr, a former long-time director of the diocesan charity. The building will have offices for social workers, consultation rooms for confidential discussions with clients, administrative offices, an archive, and a room for meetings and training. On the ground floor, there will be storage for the social rehabilitation center and the mobile crisis service.

The estimated construction costs were 77 million crowns, and the price from the tender is 66.4 million crowns. An additional two million crowns will be the cost of oversight work. The city is applying for an EU grant for the low-threshold daytime center, which can amount to 22.1 million crowns.