More than 3,500 unaccompanied children live in precarious conditions, while it is estimated that about 600 children are homeless in Athens or are in protective custody in Police Stations due to lack of places in appropriate accommodation facilities. It is precisely for these children who live in fear and insecurity and who do not know how to cope or where to turn for help, that METAdrasi has launched a new activity, the Mobile Street-Work Unit for Homeless UASC. Especially during the implementation of strict quarantine measures to combat the pandemic, this intervention was deemed imperative, as children could not move around to seek support and the organisations, obeying to the measures, adapted their mode of operation accordingly.
For a month now, specialised members of METAdrasi’s team, together with the valuable contribution of our volunteers, have been supporting the homeless unaccompanied children of Athens by providing basic necessities, personal care and hygiene kits, psychosocial support and connection with “1stop4homeless”, METAdrasi’s Drop-in Support Center for homeless children.
We warmly thank the Kahane Foundation and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees for their support in this initiative, and we hope that we will be able to continue and expand this activity even after the pandemic, until “no child is left homeless”.
