The story of Márta Bóni and her family
In our work, we meet many families where poverty and homelessness test or even break the bond between parents and children.
Márta Bóni’s story is above all one of perseverance and parental love. After many years spent living in the woods, her family managed to rebuild their lives, and today not only their daughter, but also their grandchild can grow up in safety and stability. You can read more about Márta’s move into housing in articles published by WMN and 24.hu .
“In one of the quiet streets of Kőbánya lives Márta Bóni, who moved into a one-room municipal apartment with her husband and daughter in November 2017. They received the apartment through a housing application run by the Utcáról Lakásba! Association, and retiled it with their own savings. The tiles shine, the entire flat is clean and welcoming, and it is obvious that everything has its place.”
Tamás Mázsár, 24.hu (2019)
This idyllic image of our tenant’s home is no exaggeration. The apartment where they still live today is always impeccably clean. Even while working full-time, Márta keeps it spotless as a way of honouring the home they finally received after many years of severe deprivation and homelessness.
Márta and her husband used to live in the Terebesi Forest, while their young daughter was raised by Márta’s mother during those years without stable housing. The most painful part of homelessness for the family was being separated from each other. Despite this, Márta and her husband went to work every single day from their hut in the woods. Márta worked as a cleaner for large companies and never gave up hope. Most of their colleagues had no idea about the conditions they were actually living in. They never earned enough to save up for a rental deposit, so they tried to create some sense of safety for themselves in their forest hut. “When I first went into the forest, it was terrifying. I cried. You have to get used to everything. I was afraid to fall asleep because I thought someone might set the house on fire.” Márta recalls in the book Paths in the Forest.
Their perseverance eventually paid off. In 2017, they moved into a municipal rental apartment through our Housing First-based From Hut to Home programme. Their daughter, Márti, later completed several educational qualifications. Today, Márta’s daughter and grandchild no longer have to experience homelessness. When supporting families with children, our most important goal is to break the destructive cycle of generational poverty. Today, there are no adequate state-level tools to achieve this — even though few things are more urgent than ending child homelessness and preventing families from being torn apart.
