Development of the St. Brother Albert Shelter for Homeless Men in Gliwice

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In 2017, we have been supporting the adaptation of an unused office building into a shelter for homeless men which will be run by the St. Brother Albert Aid Society. The project is taking place in Gliwice and aims to provide housing for 60 people in need.

The Gliwice branch of St. Brother Albert Aid Society obtained the building from the Polish State Railways. Since July 2017, the Society has been carrying out intensive adaptation works in order to create a shelter for 60 homeless men. It is of high priority to finish the project before winter starts – the first men should move into the shelter at the beginning of October.

How do we help?

We are supporting adaptation works by organizing volunteering events. In September 2017, the first event, in which volunteers from the USA will take part, is planned to take place.

Not only should volunteers’ involvement in the initiative accelerate the works but also give a glimmer of hope to those who are going to live in the shelter – they will also help with the adaptation, working hand in hand with the volunteers.

Who do we help? (about the St. Brother Albert Aid Society)

In the summer of 2011, we began a cooperation with the St. Brother Albert Aid Society (TPBA), which is now running over 60 shelters for the homeless in numerous cities in Poland. The mission of the Society is to help people at risk of being marginalized so that they can return to their society, find a job and thrive on. It runs shelters inspired by the “Night Shelter” established in Kraków before WW2 on initiative of St. Brother Albert – an aristocrat, priest and artist.

Habitat Poland works in an especially close collaboration with the Gliwice branch of the St. Brother Albert Aid Society.

Our first joint project took place in Gliwice and involved development of a homeless center consisting of a main building and 5 housing pavilions providing shelter for 93 men. We helped the Society to obtain a donation from the Gliwice-based FLUOR engineering design office. The whole donation was used to renovate the façade of the main building.

Other projects realized in collaboration with the Gliwice branch of the St. Brother Albert Aid Society include:

– renovation of a night shelter in Gliwice,

– adaptation of a former school into a house for 75 ill, elderly and homeless men in Świętochłowice,

– adaptation of a former sanitary-epidemiological station into a shelter for 25 homeless single mothers with children in Siemianowice Śląskie.

For more information about the Gliwice branch of the St. Brother Albert Aid Society, go to: www.tpbagliwice.pl.

Find out more about our project run in 2017 in partnership with the Wrocław branch of the St. Brother Albert Aid Society: Renovation of the St. Brother Albert Shelter for Homeless Men in Wrocław.