City homeless to get their own lockers

Funds are still needed to pay an outreach worker to keep in contact with the homeless

The homeless lead a rough and precarious existence in Copenhagen, and carrying around and keeping a watchful eye on their worldly possessions is a full-time endeavour. But help is on its way for the city’s vulnerable.

In collaboration with the church organisation Vor Frue Sogns Menighedsråd, the homeless organisation Projekt Udenfor wants to help the homeless keep their possessions through a new Locker Room initiative that will enable them to use secure lockers.

“The homeless are often challenged by having to carry all their possessions around,” Ninna Hoegh, the head of Projekt Udenfor, told Metroxpress newspaper. “It complicates their lives on a daily basis.”

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Funds needed
Hanne Pedersen, the head of the Natcafé homeless shelter in Nørrebro, agreed with Hoegh, arguing that the homeless are forced to carry all their possessions with them when they are collecting bottles or working.

“A locker can take away the stress that many experience when always carrying around their valuables,” Pedersen said. “The cash or pant from bottles that they live on tends to always be on their person.”

Projekt Udenfor said that the Locker Room project isn’t yet fully financed and therefore cannot be launched. The city centre local committee, Indre By Lokaludvalg, supports the cause with 50,000 kroner, but funds are still needed to pay an outreach worker to keep in contact with the homeless.