Symbios - shared housing

Bohuslav Binka (1973) – university teacher, scientist and therapist

Motto: If you refuse to recall your dreams, what you are really doing is denying your own existence.

Work experience:

Vice-dean for communication (Faculty of social studies at Masaryk University) from 2019.  

Founder and expert quarantor (Symbios shared housing project for young adults from institutional care and students from Masaryk University) from 2015. I have established an organization. My team have acqisitioned and reconstructed the house for the project. Project is now running for (exactly) one year. 8 young adults and 8 students living in 8 flats together.

Head of Department ((Faculty of social studies at Masaryk University) from 2012 to 2019.  

 Education:

Psychotherapeutic training (Gestalt approach) – INSTEP – Integrative gestalt psychoterapeutic institute (2015-present)

Crisis intervention training – REMEDIUM – Crisis intervention specialist

Philosophy (Ethics) (Ph.D.) – Masaryk University

Skills: therapy, crisis intervention, evaluation, qualitative research, research, non-profit

Symbios solves the problem of the transition of young adults from institutional care to independent living. We see the solution in shared housing with university students, where peer-to-peer competencies are transferred in everyday situations. Stable housing, individual work with targert group (individual mentoring, psychoterapeutists and self-development activities are provided), intergration into the labor market and building relationships between young adults, students and mentors are the main interventions of project. By meeting two different groups of younf people with different social capital, social bubbles are disturbed and both words are enriched.

The problem of the transition of young adults from institutional care (children´s homes and types of substitute family care) to independent life is not sufficiently addressed in the Czech Republic. The starting position of these young people is considerably disadvantaged compared with other peers - they lack sufficient social bonds and supportive networks of contacts, they have no financial security,  inadaquate qualifications, naive ideas about the labor market. The difference between a clearly structured life in a children's home and independent life has a major impact. This group is at risk of social exclusion, and a large percentage of these people even end up on the streets. In the Czech Republic. there is not yet an effective tool to address this issue and deal with it at the system level. 

In a flat house in Brno we provide shared living in eight flats of 2+1, where each flat is shared by one student and one young adult from an institutional care. With condition of regular payment of the rent, each Symbios participant has a promise for housing for four to five years. 

Mentors and psychoterapeutist are available in the house. We offer therapy and self-development groups to all project participants. We follow the individual needs and try to response to them, which also implies a constant set-up and innovation of the pilot project. We also help to the young adults to find their first work experience, support them in their self-realization and thus help their integration to the labor market.

The project creates community of young people who can meet daily to solve everyday life situations. The vision of the project is to create long-term relationships between ypung adults, students and mentors. MOreover, by meeting two different groups of young people with different social capital, social bubbles are disturbed and both worlds are enriched.

Our targer groups is young adults leaving isntitutional care. The starting position of these young people is considerably disadvantaged compared with other peers - they lack sufficient social bonds and supportive networks of contacts, they have no financial security,  inadaquate qualifications, naive ideas about the labor market. The difference between a clearly structured life in a children's home and independent life has a major impact. This group is at risk of social exclusion, and a large percentage of these people even end up on the streets. The connection of this group with the group of university students increases the social capital of the target group and the natural transfer of peer-to-peer competencies within the newly formed community. In addition to a group of students, mentors are available to help young adults orient themselves in today's world according to their individual needs and problems. Young people are thus led to be the main solvers of their problem, they are maximally led to independence and to be able to live independently and orient themselves in today's world after four years when they leave the project.

 Young people from children´s homes are considerably disadvantaged compared with other peers. After leaving the children's home young people find themselves in a difficult situation, looking for a new home, first job, being without money, education, support from family. The idea of transferring competences in the natural environment of shared living has a huge potential to help these people in their new life situation. Project wants to show that the combination of certitude given by shared living, the possibility of relationships, integration into the labor market will lead the target group to take responsibility for their own lives. 

The first idea was inspired by another project abroad. In 2012, I visited the VinciRast project with Masaryk´s Universtity students for the first time - the shared housing of homeless people and Viennese students. I was touched by both the real results of the project and the atmosphere that prevailed in it - the effort not to save, but to support in their own activities. The principle of a certain non-judgment, which does not block important internal changes. After the third visit in 2015, we decided to carry out a similar project in the Czech Republic. We changed the target group, because in the Czech Republic there is a big problem with young adults from children's homes. The final form of the project was significantly influenced by the gestalt therapeutic approach, which emphasizes the healing potential of long-term relationships and the concept of paradoxical theory of change - which says that change has the potential to occur when we accept the parts of ourselves that we would like to change. So the project is the result of the inspiration of VinciRast, Gestalt's approach to change and the need for one important target group in the Czech Republic. 

Young adults from children's homes have a very difficult time entering independent life in the Czech Republic. In children's homes, they have learned to listen and live according to rigid daily structures that cannot be used much in independent life. In addition, they are not used to accept responsibility and have internal motivation and structure. Therefore, more than 60% of them end up either as drug addicts, homeless people or in prison. Our project primarily gives them the security of safe and long-term (4-5 years) housing in combination with the possibility of having long-term strengthening relationships. I believe that housing security, combined with support for finding work and authentic relationships at various levels, has healing potential and will enable young adults to develop, which will lead to a higher ability to live independently after leaving the project. I believe that relationships in which there is room for the joy of success and not finding guilt heal in the long run and create internal structures that, unlike those externally accepted from the outside, work for a long time. The first year of the project proves us right.

1. Purposefulness - I can pursue my goals for a long time and achieve them. Examples include the rescue of the Department of Environmental Studies  (Masaryk University) in 2012-2019, or the launch of the Symbios project in 2015-2020 or the takeover of the Ekofilm movie festival for Masaryk University and a significant increase in its attendance and quality in 2015-2020. I can achieve my goals.

2. Self-reflection - we each make mistakes. I do not associate my mistakes with my value and therefore I am not afraid of them and I can listen to them in some way. In the team, I accept criticism (in any position) and even if I sometimes get uncomfortable, I can always ask myself and others in retrospect what is important and true about it.

3. Team building - maybe it's because of luck or good choice, yet I only have excellent teams around me. With people who understand what they are doing, they can stand up for themselves and at the same time listen to others. I have people around me open, hardworking and with a good expert (or human) perspective.

4. Ability to negotiate. I can convince people.

For the first time - in the project - it happened to me that a person who was very strongly motivated and had a good expert background, but at the same time had two very problematic qualities, took the position of leader of he project. A certain disintegration of the internal structure - repeated going late to meetings, inability to complete individual sections of the project to a successful end. I solved the problem as follows - on the first mowing, I highlighted the (existing!) good aspects of my colleague and then demonstrated on specific cases what the problem is and what needs to be changed. Unfortunately, there was no change. At the second meeting, I emphasized how I personally and the project I care about need a more responsible and structured approach. For the next one, I proposed joint regular meetings with a high degree of structure, but at the same time I expressed that I am very dissatisfied. After another 14 days, when even this offer did not work, I tried to say it is not possible for her to continue at this place and I started new selection process – new leader is very successful until now.

I. In 2012, I became the head of the department, which since 2005 has lost approximately 40% of students, which had 7 employees, was able to obtain approximately 1 scientific project per year and publish 3 scientific texts per year. After 7 years, when I handed over the department to my successor, the number of students increased, the department had 17 employees (of which 2 were foreign) and acquired approximately 6 projects per year and published approximately 20 high-quality scientific texts per year.

II. In 2012, I visited in Vienna the VinziRast project for the first time – i tis shared housing for homeless people and students Vienna. After three years, two other colleagues and I decided to carry out a similar project in the Czech Republic. I started my psychotherapeutic training. I created a team that prepared the project for free. I convinced the city to give us a house. I got the project so that everything could start in 2019, I went around the institutional care houses and prepared everything so that in June 2019 the project (me - expert guarantor, project manager, two mentors, two external therapists) could start working. The project works successfully after a year.

There is no systematic care for young adults after leaving institutional care in the Czech Rep. (housing, psychotherapeutic support, support with finding work, etc.). But in fact, this target group (TG) is at great risk of social exclusion. Young people may use various services, such as halfway houses or many kinds of counselling, where they mostly solve only part of the problems they face. The Symbios provides comprehensive care for TG. It offers security in the form of shared housing, the possibility of establishing new relationships, individual mentoring and assistance in integration into the labor market. Innovative connectivity with students and the effort to transfer peer competencies ensure that TG´s social and cultural capital is increased and thus better integrated into society.

I believe that people change when they have a strong points around them and also when they have relationships on which they can rely and thanks to this strengthening they can accept those parts of their selves that bother them and for which they feel somehow internally ashamed. And paradoxically, I am convinced that if we accept some of our rejected parts and give them our attention and interest and acceptance, its power will diminish and recede into the background. I don't believe to the word:  you have to, you should, you have, I believe the word I can, because it allows you to open the door that you all have to close because of have to.

The pilot project is set up for eight young adults from an institutional care and eight students. In a one year, we want to spread the project to other university cities (Prague, Ostrava), where houses of at least the same size would be built. Within five years, Symbios will be in every university city and will be offered as an opportunity to all young people leaving institutional care throughout the Czech Republic. In five years concept of shared housing can also be disseminated abroad.

The project has one year of shared housing. Although positive changes are observable in the target group (an evaluation report is also published in July 2020, which confirms this), we are aware that one of the most important interventions is also time. Therefore, we want to test for another year whether this solution is a suitable tool for solving the problem of transition of young adults from children's homes to independent living. During this time, we want to focus on advocacy activities, promote the interests of the target group and point out the insufficient solution of the issue. After a year, we want to establish partnerships with other universities and local politicians, so that Symbios can be established in other university cities (Prague, Ostrava, Olomouc, České Budějovice, etc.) within five years.

From our experience, the project is very positively received by both the public and political actors. However, we want to propose a really effective solution and we also connect with the academic sphere to assess the maximum benefit, which requires additional funding. At present, we are financed until March 2022 and we are constantly obtaining funding for further operation.

ongoing fundraising, designing a financially sustainable solution

We are currently working with the non-profit organization Tripitaka, which has developed a program to integrate disadvantaged young people into the labor market. We also work with this organization to create an analysis of the needs and problems of the target group, which will be an important basis for effective project setup. The Dagmar Brno Children's Home and the Veronika Kašáková Foundation simultaneously participate in the creation of the analysis. To a lesser extent, we cooperate with many organizations in Brno (Agapo, DROM, IQ Roma service, etc.) in solving specific cases. The project partner is also the Brno- Center district, which provides a building in which shared housing is taking place.

Until May 2020, the project was funded by the European Social Funds (Operational Program for Employment). Since April 2020, we can operate thanks to the Open society fund and the programm Active citizens Fund. In the past, we also received financial support from Avast or a Commercial bank or other small donors.

By awarding the prize and the financial support associated with it, it will enable further development of the project. The project has great research potential, is it a pilot project in the Czech Republic with the potential to spread to other cities and countries and after one year of shared housing also bears its results. We have a lot of ideas on how to further develop the project, but finances can sometimes be a problem. The prize would therefore be used for the development of the project and its other activities.

In the first year of operation, we faced great challenges. As a new team in the project, we had to clearly define the competencies and, above all, clearly explain our roles to the project participants as well. At the same time, we were looking for the right ways to lead the project, how to properly treat the target group, how to set up the project activities correctly. At the same time, it was a big task to raise funds for further operation. After one year of great challenges and learning, we need to stabilize the project even more (especially financially) and pay attention to more neglected things such as the proper development of marketing, communication with the public, etc. In the next half year we see it as very important to create a financial and fundraising plan and also the marketing plan.