Stichting Barka

Barka NL organization was established in 2012 in response to the increasing number of Central and Eastern European migrants in the streets of The Netherlands, suffering from homelessness and substance abuse. In 2011 Barka was invited by the local municipality of Utrecht to come to start working with the homeless migrants in the city. The goal was to provide severely excluded Eastern European migrants (at the time mainly from Polish descent) with the opportunity to reconnect and socially reintegrate in their home country. This was possible due to the vast possibilities of support for individuals within the Barka Foundation Network projects in Poland, where people could go back to their families or receive help in addressing their addiction problems. Now, we have expanded our target group to all Middle-and-Eastern European migrants and aim to support individuals within whole of The Netherlands. In our migrant support projects, we work in the teams of two persons: a leader and a social assistant. The leader is a person who has a personal experience of homelessness and addiction, that he combated and rehabilitated within Barka Network educational and community programs. The social assistant is a person who is familiar with the language and regulations in The Netherlands and has a formal education (e.g., a degree in social work, psychology, etc.) Together they work in a team to help individuals on the streets.