Late May took our project team to Warsaw. Three days full of meetings, presentations, and shared learning showed once again that cooperation across Central and Eastern Europe carries real strength.
Meeting in person
After months of working together remotely, the entire SOLACE-CEE consortium — DEDO, HESED, HFPF, Casa Ioana, HSCOM, MRI, and Všetci pre rodinu, n.o. — finally met in person. The meeting was hosted by the Housing First Poland Foundation at Duży Pokój, a space whose atmosphere practically invited open dialogue.
The agenda was packed:
- partners shared the current state of local hubs and innovations from their countries,
- reviewed the results of the project’s evaluation process so far,
- and reflected together on the next direction for the innovation team.
Just as important as the agenda itself was the room left for open discussion — for questions, mutual learning, and the kind of relationship-building that moves an international project like this one forward.
Inspiration straight from Polish practice
The Warsaw programme also included visits to organisations providing direct support to people experiencing homelessness in the city. Guided by the Street Medical Patrol — a joint initiative of the Municipal Guard, Caritas Poland, and the Jesteśmy Nadzieją association — we visited two facilities:
SODON sobering-up centre
Over the years, this facility has grown well beyond its original purpose and today focuses on individualised client care and addiction-related education.
Jesteśmy Nadzieją clinic
A recently opened facility providing healthcare to people experiencing homelessness and to foreigners, including access to specialists in gynaecology, dentistry, neurology, and psychiatry.
Both visits reaffirmed something the SOLACE-CEE project itself is built on: meaningful support happens where people actually are, and it requires cooperation across systems and sectors.
What the consortium takes home
Warsaw brought the SOLACE-CEE project new contacts, fresh inspiration, and concrete ideas that each partner will now bring back to their own country. Meeting the whole consortium in person confirmed once again that sharing experience between organisations from different CEE countries is one of the most powerful tools we have in this project.
By working together — across borders and across organisations — we can drive systemic change that genuinely helps people facing housing insecurity.