Community is a Basic Need

The state provides little to no support for people who find themselves homeless in Greece. In these instances, existing social and familial networks are what someone has to rely on to emerge from the situation.

Those new to the country do not have this network. For Non-European arrivals, in particular asylum-seeking or refugee men, it can be very hard to build such a network; when everyone you know is in a similar situation or because you are consistently presented and treated as a threat.

Mazí Housing is a platform. We exist to be a placeholder for this network, for a time. Every Mazí apartment has space to accommodate a lot of people well. We provide shared housing for two reasons.

The pragmatic reason: we rent fewer apartments and house more people.
The deeper reason: community is a basic need.

Being – feeling – part of a community is key to self-reliance, strong mental health, resilience and happiness.

When we speak about community-based housing we are speaking about social connection, and environments of mutual support. We are speaking about creating spaces which are stable and safe; spaces in which residents from diverse national, linguistic, cultural, economic and educational backgrounds become comfortable living together.

Practically, for residents, communities in the apartments become key support networks that solo people may not have in a foreign country. This can be as simple as a housemate explaining the different metro lines, or building relationships by cooking together and sharing food. Like all communities, this needs constant maintenance, care and communication. This is the role of the house meeting, a cornerstone of the Mazí week.