A new initiative in Prague has given 40 homeless individuals a one-time grant of 100,000 CZK each. Over the next year, a team of researchers and social workers will track how they manage the money.
The project, New Leaf, was created by the non-profit organization Neposeda in collaboration with the Department of Social Work at Charles University and the National Center for Social Studies. The aim is to explore whether providing direct financial support can help individuals leave homelessness behind.
The project is inspired by a similar initiative in Canada, which showed promising results: people with financial support spent 89 fewer days in shelters and 99 fewer days on the street compared to those without funds. 93% of participants secured stable housing, and there was no increase in spending on alcohol, drugs or cigarettes.
This project in Prague seeks to address the growing homelessness crisis, which has seen the country rank among the worst in terms of homelessness per capita, according to the OECD. The team will observe the recipients to determine whether such an approach could offer a more effective solution than current methods.
