Our story, year by year

ULE 10

In 2023, the From Streets to Homes Association celebrated its 10th anniversary. What hasn’t changed since the very beginning is our firm belief that everyone deserves a place they can call home. Safe housing is not only a human right — it is the foundation of social participation and personal well-being.

Since our founding, the need for our work has continued to grow. We operate in an increasingly challenging social environment, yet we are doing more than ever to respond to it. Over the years, we have helped more than 1,000 people access housing. Today, more than 250 people live in our programs — either as tenants or through rent support — in safe and dignified homes. Tens of thousands of people follow our work, and an increasing number of local governments are using our expertise and materials to inform their own responses to housing poverty in Hungary.

Discover the story of ULE in our 10th anniversary compilation.

Timeline

The Beginning (as part of the City is for All group)

We were given a task

The City is for All (AVM) ’s Public Space working group was coordinated by Anna Bende at the time, while the Housing working group was led by Vera Kovács. Following a request for help, we began working together on a case involving several people experiencing homelessness who were living in makeshift huts in the Terebesi forest in Kőbánya, whose homes were under threat of being demolished illegally. Anna coordinated AVM activists to monitor and protect the huts, while Vera initiated negotiations with the Kőbánya local government together with those affected. Deputy Mayor Tibor Weeber quickly recognised the importance of the issue and stood by our side.

As a result of these negotiations, an agreement was reached: each year, several people living in the Terebesi forest would be given access to social housing. In the first year, we received two severely deteriorated apartments, which tenants were required to renovate themselves. AVM took on this challenge, and together with the Social Architecture Camp Association (founded at the College for Advanced Studies in Social Theory, now dissolved) and many volunteers, we made the apartments livable.

The construction work was led by our site manager, Endre Ivány, who worked with volunteers for the first time in his life. The project was supported by the Van Esély Foundation and the Foundation for Social Responsibility. It is important to highlight our first supporters, as in the beginning, we had little more than an idea — one that they believed in and chose to support. The apartments were approved by the Kőbánya municipal council in 2012, and the renovations were completed by 2013.

The first move-ins

Our first year

Our first tenants were Valika and Albi. Just a week or two later, the second move-in followed — Feri and Julika also found a home. The first move-in was a truly special and celebratory moment. We didn’t stop there. We continued working to build the program so that more people could move from the Terebesi forest into real homes. By this time, we were already calling ourselves From Streets to Homes, although we were not yet formally registered as an independent organisation.

The early days

In the first years, we worked entirely on a voluntary basis, but even then we knew that this work would eventually need a more structured, institutional framework. During the second renovation project, many contributors and editors from Mérce, along with members of the AVM activist community, helped coordinate the volunteers. It was especially moving to see that three or four people experiencing homelessness regularly took part in these volunteer days — people who had no real chance at the time of accessing housing themselves through the program.

We formally embedded the Housing First approach into our founding principles. According to this approach, shelter-based systems are not capable of providing a real pathway out of homelessness.

ULE was officially registered as an organisation, and around the same time, we welcomed three new tenants. We began renovating the third and fourth apartments while every member of the association still held full-time jobs elsewhere. There were four founding members: Anna Bende, Viki Kandikó, Vera Kovács, and Zoli Sipos. Alongside them, six honorary founding members joined — including Tessa Udvarhelyi from AVM and Valika, our very first tenant.

Our first housing call

We signed our first official cooperation agreement with the Kőbánya municipality. This marked a shift from individual renovation projects to a broader partnership, and our first program — From Shacks to Homes — was born. That same year, for the first time, tenants selected through an application process were able to move into the Kőbánya apartments.

A third couple also moved into housing, and we began working with Habitat for Humanity Hungary on renovations. Most of these works were carried out by their volunteers.

Until 2015, our social work remained very informal and community-based. Our first tenants were also active participants in their own cases, openly sharing their stories with the public. From the very beginning, we followed the Housing First approach. In 2015, we started developing our own internal guidelines for social work, and began building professional partnerships within a more structured framework.

That year also brought new challenges. As a still young organisation, we were not fully prepared to manage the large number of volunteers coming through Habitat. At the same time, we lacked the financial resources to renovate our fifth and sixth apartments ourselves. Meanwhile, twelve elderly or near-retirement tenants were already living in six apartments, relying heavily on our support. It became clear that we needed to focus on becoming a more structured and sustainable organisation. Beyond our core program, we also recognised that the housing crisis in Hungary affects a much wider population. This pushed us to start thinking about scalable, systemic solutions. After strengthening the organisation, we began developing the concept of a Social Rental Agency, as well as ideas for a rental housing model and property management system. The rental housing concept, however, has not yet been realised.

Awareness Raising

From this point on, we placed greater emphasis on increasing the visibility of our work. We launched our Facebook page, ran our first crowdfunding campaign (AdjukÖssze), and began receiving media inquiries.

We also took on an advocacy role in a case involving the illegal demolition of huts in Kispest. As a result, a woman and her family were able to access housing — although they were ultimately unable to maintain it. This remains the only case of this kind that did not succeed in the long term.
One of our first acts of broader social solidarity came when we used our newly acquired storage spaces in Kőbánya to help furnish homes for refugee families.
We also spoke out against changes to social assistance laws and cuts to financial support — although at the time, our public visibility was still limited.

A year of institutionalisation

The year 2016 marked a true turning point in the life of our organisation. It became clear that our work was no longer just an experiment — a strong and professional organisation was taking shape. We continued both the From Shacks to Homes program and our Social Rental Agency through open housing calls, and began expanding beyond Kőbánya to other districts. That year, alongside the Housing First approach, we set a second strategic goal: to introduce the concept of the Social Rental Agency and contribute to its wider adoption in Hungary. In its first year, the Social Rental Agency also focused exclusively on tenants moving out of homelessness. Among our first tenants, one couple had to leave the program due to substance use issues. However, most of our early tenants are still with us today. Some left due to passing away, while others were able to move on to better housing opportunities. A key principle we have maintained ever since — regardless of the target group — is that we do not provide time-limited housing. Tenants can remain in our programs as long as they pay rent and cooperate with us.

Launching the Social Rental Agency

A supporter — first through the TESZ Hungary initiative, and later through the Housing Now! Foundation they established — purchased three apartments so that ULE could operate them as social housing within the newly launched Social Rental Agency. In addition, this supporter also contributed to covering our operational costs. It felt almost like a fairytale — and it gave us strong confirmation that we were on the right path.

That same year, we also focused on organisational development and held our first retreat with an external facilitator.

Our first paid social worker

Among the founders, Anna, Vera, and Sipi remained actively involved. At the time, Vera and Anna were on parental leave with their young children, which allowed them to focus on building the organisation. As a result, Sipi became the first employed member of the organisation, and in 2016 we also hired our first full-time social worker from outside the founding team.

HomeLab

Another important catalyst for our institutional development was becoming a partner in a European Union-funded project for the first time. This allowed us to expand the number of clients we supported and significantly strengthen our organisational capacity.

Housing Now! article series

We launched a housing-focused article serieson Mérce to bring urgent housing issues into the spotlight. Our goal was to highlight that problems such as housing poverty and rapidly rising rents are not inevitable — they are solvable with responsible housing policies.

Separating our housing programs

A year of professional development

We decided to clearly separate our two housing programs. Within the Social Rental Agency, we began opening up to a wider range of vulnerabilities, while the From Shacks to Homes program remained a purely Housing First-based initiative.

Growing visibility

Through initiatives like the Könyvhajlék (Book Shelter) auction and the Swimathon ambassador campaign, we moved toward a more sustainable model — one where our communication supports both awareness raising and fundraising through targeted campaigns.

A defining moment for us in 2017 was the Könyvhajlék auction. The early years of the organisation involved a great deal of struggle, risk-taking, and personal sacrifice. Seeing the Association of Hungarian Writers and many well-known public figures stand by us gave us a powerful sense of support and validation.

Launch of the "Give a Job!" group in February

At weekly group meetings open to everyone, our social workers support job seekers in finding employment, while participants also help one another by sharing information and opportunities.

Housing Coalition

In preparation for the parliamentary elections, the Housing Coalition was formed. Together with other organisations working on housing issues, we organised a public forum for policymakers at the Gödör Club.

Early supporters

Our first institutional donors

From this year onward, ERSTE Social Banking and Otthon Centrum became our regular supporters. In our early years, the organisation operated almost entirely on community funding and small private donations. The HomeLab project was the first to provide multi-year financial stability. In addition, our partnership with the TESZ Hungary Foundation allowed us to stabilise our operations in 2017 and build relationships with new strategic partners such as ERSTE, the Polgár Foundation, and Otthon Centrum.

The beginning of the mobile housing program

Purchasing the Soroksár plot

In this year, we also launched our mobile housing program, which had originally been developed in 2016 as part of the Social Rental Agency.

Our initial plan was to purchase property using investor funding and repay the investment through rental income. However, the real estate investment market does not operate this way — properties retain their value even if investors choose not to rent them out. This led us to focus on mobile homes, which, due to their lower cost, made this model more viable. We were able to install our first two mobile homes on our plot in Soroksár using funding from three private investors.

Mobile housing – multiplied challenges

This year was largely defined by the many challenges surrounding the installation of our mobile homes. As an organisation, we took on a major undertaking, but our work was also complicated by legal and regulatory inconsistencies related to construction and planning. These difficulties gradually consumed most of our volunteer capacity. At the same time, building on our own plot was also a positive experience. However, it became clear that different districts in Budapest held conflicting and often contradictory views on mobile housing, making it difficult to scale the program without a committed institutional partner. Following our first Social Rental Agency apartments, the two mobile homes became the next — now fully owned — units in our housing portfolio. Due to the challenges, their completion was delayed until 2019.

The year of criminalisation: we took part in protests against the criminalisation of homelessness. Despite these efforts, the new law came into force in October. From that point on, amendments to the misdemeanour law made living in public spaces punishable nationwide.

Five years since the first move-in

We celebrated the fifth anniversary of Valika’s move-in — first together with her in her garden, and later at the Mika Tivadar venue. From then on, we marked April as the official birthday of ULE. To celebrate the anniversary, we also presented a photo exhibition by Anna Vörös at Kelet Café.

New teams are formed

The technical team and our storage facility

This year saw the formation of our technical team, helping to make renovation work more efficient and organised. Our association’s storage facility also opened in 2018, and since then has been managed as a dedicated area by our volunteer warehouse team.

The launch of the Social Rental Agency

This year was defined by three key milestones in the life of ULE: the criminalisation of homelessness, the publication of Paths in the Forest, and the launch of our Social Rental Agency. Tenants began moving into homes rented through our organisation from private landlords and partner supporters. At the same time, our mobile homes also welcomed their first residents.

Partnership with Pesterzsébet

In the years leading up to this, we had reached out to several local governments. Following the strong partnership established in Kőbánya at the start of our work, we successfully formed a new collaboration with the Pesterzsébet municipality. This meant that a new district joined our From Shacks to Homes program, allowing us to expand both our housing stock and the number of tenants we support.

Paths in the Forest

The book Paths in the Forest, written by our founder and co-president Vera Kovács, was published in September. It brings together the stories of people experiencing homelessness in Budapest. The book aims to raise awareness: many people are born into homelessness, and poverty and housing insecurity are often passed down across generations.

SozialMarie Award

The SozialMarie Award is a social innovation prize that recognises 15 outstanding projects each year. Both our From Shacks to Homes and Social Rental Agency programs received this award, acknowledging the impact of our work.

Welcoming communications interns

From 2019 onwards, interns also began supporting our work — starting with the communications team.

The beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic

By the end of 2019, the news had become increasingly alarming. When lockdowns were announced at the beginning of the year, we knew that none of our clients could lose their homes due to financial hardship — and we hoped we could keep the organisation going alongside them. We managed to get through this period without losing any tenants or staff. However, many of our planned professional developments for the year had to be postponed. Our mobile housing program faced a major setback when the mayor of Soroksár halted the project. As a result, our two mobile homes have remained in storage ever since, waiting for a better opportunity.

The lockdowns had a severe impact on our clients. It was clear that many people working in cleaning or hospitality lost their income almost overnight. As a result, many of our tenants required additional support. Thanks to a strong collective effort, we were able to provide long-term food support to all our elderly tenants and those who lost their jobs during the pandemic.

Based on our experience, we also sent recommendations to local governments on how they could better support people living in poverty during the crisis — including those who were pushed out of shelters.

“Imagine” campaign

As part of this campaign, the faces and stories of people appeared across the streets of Budapest, highlighting their housing situations. Our goal was to raise awareness that nearly three million people in Hungary are currently affected by housing poverty.

World Habitat Award

Following the SozialMarie recognition, the UK-based housing organisation World Habitat also awarded ULE for its work.

Expansion of the Social Rental Agency

This year, we were involved in launching new partnerships, including our collaboration in Budapest’s 1st district and our professional support in establishing the Budavár Social Rental Agency. One of our most dedicated long-term activists also moved into housing through our Social Rental Agency program during this year.

Expanding our storage capacity

The association rented its second storage facility, allowing us to store not only donated furniture but also construction materials. This meant that the tools and materials needed for apartment renovations finally had a proper home.

Strengthening the Social Rental Agency

In January 2021, we were awarded a joint grant together with the Budapest Municipality and Városkutatás Ltd. through the European Social Catalyst Fund (ESCF). The project focused on assessing the feasibility of the Social Rental Agency model and preparing for its implementation. Over six months, staff and project experts from the three organisations worked together — supported by ESCF — to develop an action plan for launching a Metropolitan Social Rental Agency. The proposal has not yet been discussed by the Budapest General Assembly.

Beyond outlining the concept itself, the project defined the concrete steps required for implementation. As part of the process, we participated in international knowledge exchange within a consortium of organisations working on Social Rental Agency models, while also analysing the current housing situation in Budapest and the management of municipal housing. This work laid the foundation for a comprehensive action plan, covering the financial model, service structure, and implementation steps of the Social Rental Agency. The action plan was presented in September 2021 at the Mayor’s Office of Budapest. We also began cooperation with the District II municipality, which adopted the Social Rental Agency concept and committed to responsible housing policy.

Social Rental Agency Handbook

We successfully applied, together with the Budapest Municipality, to develop a Social Rental Agency handbook. With the support of World Habitat, we also created a general guide that can be used by municipalities across Hungary.

Welcoming social work interns

From autumn 2021, we began operating as a field placement site in cooperation with the ELTE Faculty of Social Sciences (Department of Social Work). Supporting professional education is important to us, and since then we have hosted several social work interns — two of whom have remained with us and continue to support ULE’s work.

Partnership with the Social Workers’ Trade Union

We launched a partnership with the Trade Union of Social Sector Workers (SZÁD), enabling social workers to apply as tenants within the Social Rental Agency. The first move-ins took place within the same year.

Room to Roma partnership

A significant proportion of ULE’s tenants are Roma. We began to place greater focus on highlighting housing discrimination affecting Roma communities — not only through our work, but also in the wider public sphere.

War in our neighbourhood

The outbreak of war in a neighbouring country had a major impact on our work in 2022. In response, we launched our Solidarity Housing Program for people fleeing Ukraine. At first, we operated with a model similar to our Social Rental Agency, but following the start of our cooperation with UNHCR and EPIM, we introduced a rent support program. Since then, we have been supporting refugee families from Ukraine through social work, helping them integrate more easily into Hungarian society.

Alongside these challenges, 2022 was also a year of milestones. We first began our work in 2012 — although not yet in our current organisational form — through our partnership in Kőbánya. In addition, by 2021, the number of our tenants had surpassed 100.

Housing Minimum

Ahead of the 2022 parliamentary elections, we worked together with other housing organisations to develop a set of policy proposals for the incoming government, known as the Housing Minimum.

Protest against changes to the social law

A new social law was adopted in November, aiming to significantly reduce the state’s responsibility toward vulnerable citizens and withdraw from providing social services.

Community-based social work

Women’s Club and Peer Support Group

We launched a Women’s Club to strengthen our community of female clients, alongside the introduction of peer mentoring. We had long planned to expand our community activities — previously organising shared cooking events and Christmas dinners. This year, we were able to introduce a wider range of activities, including beauty days, cooking sessions, theatre visits, group discussions, and both group and one-on-one mentoring.

Partnership with the Food Bank

In September 2022, we signed an agreement with the Hungarian Food Bank. As a result, by December, four apartments in Budapest were purchased with our support in identifying suitable properties, and these units were added to our Social Rental Agency program.

Erasmus partnership

Since 2022, we have also been participating in an Erasmus program focusing on the situation of older people who have experienced homelessness. As part of this collaboration, together with BMSZKI (Budapest Methodological Centre for Social Policy), we exchange knowledge with partner organisations in Italy (Caritas Trieste), Ireland (Focus Ireland), and the UK (Groundswell). Last autumn, we hosted our partner organisations at the BMSZKI institution on Szabolcs Street in Budapest.

Moving forward

New Social Rental Agency partnership

We launched a new collaboration with the Democratic Trade Union of Nursery Workers, opening our Social Rental Agency program to nursery staff.

Peer Support Group

Our peer support group began operating with four mentors. New tenants are supported by long-term tenants closely connected to our organisation, who help them with everyday tasks and building social connections.

Progress with the Food Bank

In February 2023, we signed our first property management agreement with the Hungarian Food Bank for one of the apartments they had purchased. In March 2023, the apartment was opened for applications as part of our Social Rental Agency program.