Hey everyone.  Clearly a forgotten cause.  No one should be forgotten.  Ever.  Mark 

We provide housing and support to deprioritised asylum seekers and refugees.

**History**
From the first idea of Mazí in a kitchen in central Athens, residents have been at the heart of what we do. 

An asylum system is hostile by design. In this context, however, it was also inefficient, arbitrary and violent. As the state withdrew access to basic services (healthcare, legal, bureaucratic) in 2019, tens of thousands of people became trapped in dangerous and unsanitary overflowing camps on the Greek islands or across the mainland; stuck in cold and dirty and overcrowded basements of community centres or religious centres; or stuck in travellers’ houses: notoriously unclean, insecure spaces. Working frontline at a community centre and information point, we met people every day with an urgent need of housing for an indefinite period of time. People were stuck in the asylum system; stuck without legal status; stuck without access to healthcare; stuck without the status or tools to rent an apartment, find fulfilling work, and build their own pathways out of their situation in Greece.

We decided to use safe, stable housing as the prime lever for residents to unpick these issues, and to move on. Every day we saw young men come into the centre, up to the information point and ask for support. Typically, state and humanitarian actors distribute aid based on the vulnerability of different groups of displaced people. Someone can be “vulnerable” if they fit within a defined social group (old, young, pregnant, ill). Solo men are always bottom of this list. It is remarkable how quickly you internalise the knowledge that there are no services for a young man as he asks you for help; how quickly you internalise a belief that he will be fine: he is young, he is a man, he is strong. The unspoken thought behind this is: he will be ok sleeping on the street.

**Goals**
We are a small charity, and that enables us to provide genuinely impactful support to each resident we work with. We measure our impact in its depth as well as breadth, and aim to achieve five key goals, increasing each resident’s:

- Stability and access to safe spaces
- Feeling of ownership of living space and the city
- Ability to access services
- Ability to support himself financially
- Feeling of strong mental health

With these five keys residents leave Mazi equipped to support their own independent housing.

**Mission**
Mazí Housing exists to end homelessness and social exclusion for displaced people in Athens. In a world where displacement is a reality and resources are limited, we provide viable housing options and holistic support to those who face barriers to social inclusion. We demonstrate the potential for humane, cost-effective and inclusive housing responses to migration that facilitate positive interactions between all communities, and use our voice to advocate for better policy.

**Activities**
Mazí’s model is unique. We have three years of experience in using housing, safe community spaces and livelihoods support as a lever into inclusion in European societies. We have a strong track record of enabling residents to move on independently from our services: sixty-eight residents have arrived at Mazí without a job since 2020; fifty have left with the tools needed to work and forty-six have left in sustainable employment. Behind these figures are 113 asylum service visits; 38 positive asylum decisions or renewals; 65 legal information sessions; 303 doctor appointments; 24 referrals for psychological support; 3429 hours of language study. There are many indicators of inclusion, self-reliance and independence beyond these: including confidence speaking at house meetings, sense of ownership of living space, ability and willingness to navigate the neighbourhood and the city alone.

**Next Steps**
In three years, we have learnt a lot. We are constantly evolving our programme to reflect the changing context and the needs of our residents. We cannot anticipate the external triggers of these adaptations, but this flexibility ensures that we are making the most of our skills and resources to support residents to be self-reliant. The changes we have seen since the Athenian kitchen in 2018 have not, however, been solely driven by the context in which we work. We have pushed ourselves to become more effective, sustainable and replicable. Looking at the next two years, we have a clear vision of what Mazí looks like:

1. **STRENGTHEN**
• In 2023, to recruit a board with broader experience in different areas relevant to our work, e.g. advocacy, finance, funding, housing, lived experience
• To maintain a more stable core team: this means, in 2024, four members of staff for our current operations (average 40 residents over a year)
• Broader and deeper partnerships with other organisations to amplify impact we have

2. **CODIFY**
• We measure impact meticulously
• We communicate successes and learnings clearly, both internally and externally
• We maintain and uphold clear internal systems
• We document our approach clearly and charmingly, ensuring it is easy for others to see and understand how we work, and the impact this has

3. **GROW**
The work that we do is as needed as it has ever been.
• We will grow to support more people: we will open more apartments, sustainably (one housing manager per three houses)
• We will open up community space to non-residents to meet the shortfall in services as organisations close across Greece

4. **ADVOCATE**
• We will build on our track record to speak about housing; to articulate the weakness of camp-based solutions; and to advocate for better access to rights
• We will collaborate with existing partners, and search for unexpected partnerships, to amplify our voice and its impact
• We are a voice that people listen to about housing and integration in Europe

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This Sunday, on November 10, I will run a marathon—and not just any marathon, but the original race, from Marathon to Athens.

I am running to support Mazí Housing, a grassroots charity that works with young men who are traveling alone in Greece.

Mazí runs two apartments in the city, providing a safe place to live for 40 young men every year.

Mazí support residents to deal with health and mental-health concerns, develop skills, find work & pursue goals. This breaks the cycle of homelessness, helping each resident to leave prison-like camps, precarious basements, and rough-sleeping on the streets, for good.

I am running for Mazí Housing because it is a project founded and lovingly run by my friends in Greece, who are working hard to help Europe's most vulnerable as they transition from adolescence to adulthood.

Please help us run an apartment through 2025. Your support is vital to keep Mazí houses running. 

Mazí Marathon 2024 – open a new Mazí apartment in 2025 !

**One Mazí apartment costs £20k / year. Get involved, help keep the roof overhead, the lights on, the water hot in winter, the smell of onions frying in the kitchen and our expert team support each resident to live well with everyone else.**

What crisis?

The so-called European refugee crisis is not so much a crisis of migration as it is a crisis in reception policy. From the [unlawful Rwanda policy](https://www.libertyhumanrights.org.uk/issue/governments-rwanda-deportation-plan-ruled-unlawful/), to [push-backs in the Mediterranean](https://www.npr.org/2023/06/28/1184581187/migrant-deaths-mediterranean-crossing), the goal of European reception policy is to deny asylum seekers access to basic rights and to the benefits of European society in order to deter others from trying to enter Europe.

The Greek problem

In Greece, the latest example of this is the government’s choice to abruptly [close its housing assistance programs in favour of camp-based solutions](https://www.dw.com/en/greece-asylum-seekers-moved-back-into-refugee-camps/a-64630101) to accommodating the roughly [85,000](https://reliefweb.int/report/greece/unhcr-greece-factsheet-february-2023#:~:text=By%20the%20end%20of%20the,businesses%20to%20advance%20refugee%20integration) displaced people in the country. These camp-based solutions are flawed for myriad reasons: the [standard of conditions inside falls short of those required by international law](https://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng#{%22appno%22:[%2255363/19%22],%22itemid%22:[%22001-223931%22]}), and they are in effect prisons, located far from city centres, preventing their residents from accessing essential services and work opportunities. It is near impossible for residents to move forwards with their lives, and in effect are forced to choose between [imprisonment if they stay and destitution if they leave](https://asylumineurope.org/reports/country/greece/reception-conditions/housing/conditions-reception-facilities/).

Mazí housing is different

Mazí Housing helps people transition from camp-rooted limbo or street homelessness, to a place where they can support their own accommodation, and make real choices as they engage positively with society. Mazí supports deprioritised demographics, and here in Greece, that means [young men who are travelling alone](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7100937/). Often perceived as strong and independent, while also expected to provide, these young men who face barriers to society become vulnerable to exploitation. At Mazí, residents have safe accommodation from where they are supported to address health problems, develop skills, find work and build independence. Find out more about our work [here](https://mazihousingproject.org/what/).

Whose values?

The rush to push boats back out into open water, and to make people who cross borders without a stamp 'criminals', is often made in the name of protecting "our values". What values? Whose values?

At Mazí know exactly what we stand for: freedom, curiosity and care. It is not for us to judge who is worthy of our empathy. And we show that it is possible to meet the standards of support we expect everyone in society should access.

Help us stay in the race

Political and economic challenges strangle funding for organisations like Mazí Housing. The state has closed its programmes, and grassroots are closing one by one. [Mazí is the only structured housing programme for young men seeking refuge in Greece.](https://mazihousingproject.org/) And we need your help. As the shelters close, charities leave Greece and the camps fill up – we are left plugging gaps in government support. To respond, we will open a new apartment in 2025. Join us in opening these doors.

Challenge the narrative

Whether as a runner, or a donor, your contribution is vital to our continued support for young, hopeful men who are displaced in Athens. Joining this community helps us challenge the narrative that deprives young men of choice and forces them down destructive paths. Help us to remove the obstacles that keep these young men from fulfilling their potential, and creating positive lives for themselves and their communities.

To join our band of runners please reach out to cosmo@mazihousing.org and click [start fundraising](https://www.justgiving.com/create-page?campaignGuid=41ff2645-f82b-480f-a1e1-447c7be0a437), or to donate click [give now.](https://www.justgiving.com/campaign/athensmarathon2024/donate?startedBy=webjustgiving)


.css-9izj2q{display:inline-block;--textSize:1.5rem;--lineHeight:1.7999999999999998rem;line-height:var(--lineHeight);font-size:var(--textSize);width:100%;} Mazí Housing Project

Mazí Housing Project