All along, projekt UDENFOR is working actively and deliberately, leading and experimenting through new initiatives that, in time, will hopefully be taken on by other operators. This is the reason why experimental ad hoc projects are pivotal in projekt UDENFOR’s daily work, both as to communication and street-based work.

Presently, our work is focused on these experimental projects:

Project Locker Room

Project Locker Room aims to provide secured storage boxes for homeless people, who are sleeping outdoors, to preserve belongings such as personal papers and documentation, clothes and items of great sentimental value from damage, theft or loss. The storage service, which is staffed by a social worker in all opening hours,  is combined with counselling, harm reduction and outreach work.

The Youth Project

Through the Youth Project, projekt UDENFOR offers help to young people living on the streets, who are hard to reach and who are not offered other forms of support – young people who in addition to homelessness are struggling with overlapping social problems, and who live a rootless life on the streets. The Youth Project’s activities range from harm reduction to practical support of activities that are not directly related to their homelessness. First and foremost, we spend time getting to know the young people, so that we are able to support them through the emotional chaos which young people must navigate when living on the streets. We therefore work to increase the young people’s contact to relevant professionals and volunteers, and as we become a constant adult presence in their lives, we can act as the link throughout their contact with the established support system, or in other communities which can increase their opportunities for development.

The Transit Program

Projekt UDENFOR is part of the Transit Program, which is financed by the municipality of Copenhagen. The Transit Program is targeted particularly vulnerable foreign homeless people and implies, among other things, the possibility to help them get away from the streets in Copenhagen. But “transit” doesn’t necessarily mean a journey from Denmark to a homeland. It can also mean a journey away from the streets and into a home, from an addict to sober, from isolation to socializing with other people, etc.

The Good Home Journey

For foreign homeless people with serious social and health related problems, the opportunities for help, treatment and a more stable life situation, can sometimes be better in their homeland. In projekt UDENFOR we have for several years experimented with the method “The Good Home Journey”. We step in, if one of our foreign homeless users comes to the decision, that the future can be brighter in his or her homeland than here (in Denmark). We know from experience, that good preparation, planning and bridging is important for the home journey to succeed. It is often much more difficult to return home with one’s shattered dreams, than it is to travel abroad while the dreams are still intact. Therefore, we use the necessary time on conversations, practical arrangements and stabilization, and we make sure, that there are some good settings to return to (family, friends, and/or social or healthcare offers). Moreover, we assist the user all the way and make sure, that he or she is properly settled in under better terms and conditions than the ones, the streets of Copenhagen can offer.

FEAD projects

Since 2016, a substantial grant from The Fund for European Aid to the Most Deprived (FEAD) has enabled Projekt UDENFOR to expand its outreach activities in the streets of Copenhagen and to launch two new projects in Aarhus, Café UDENFOR (Café OUTSIDE) and Byg UDENFOR (Build OUTSIDE).

Café UDENFOR (Café OUTSIDE)

The movable café offers good food, learning as well as care for and with homeless people. The café will be set up in different places in and around Aarhus, where homeless people can have a meal and contribute actively to the running of the café.

Byg UDENFOR (Build OUTSIDE)

The aim of Byg UDENFOR is to enable homeless people to contribute to the building of small, movable, temporary and energy-efficient houses. Through active participation, users make decisions on and take responsibility for the design of their houses to ensure that each house matches each individual’s needs. By taking part in Byg UDENFOR, project participants gain an everyday activity, an affiliation to the building site and the opportunity to create their own homes, and thereby to become more significant actors in their own lives.