The proposed intervention is taking place in parallel in Bratislava, the capital of Slovakia, and Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia (Central and Eastern Europe). Although with socio-demographic and economic differences, the two countries in which the interventions are carried out have characteristics that unite them from the point of view of the needs of the target populations to which the initiative is addressed.

From an economic point of view, the Bratislava region is the most developed region in Slovakia, with more than 75% of the inhabitants employed in services (trade, banking, information technology, telecommunications and tourism). However, as happens in the most urbanized areas, the capital is also a place of aggregation of people in conditions of serious marginality. Although the last official count, dating back to 2016, indicated the presence of 2,064 homeless people in the city, pre-pandemic estimates on the real number of homeless people assume a total of over 4,000 people, which has probably grown further as a result of the current social and health crisis: it is therefore assumed that about one in 100 people in Bratislava is homeless. Of these, 10% are minors, 36% are female and, according to a conservative estimate, more than 20% are affected by psychiatric disorders.

In Slovenia, a study by the Ministry of Labour, Family and Social Affairs found that in 2010 there was a homeless population of between 1,000 and 1,500 people in the country, of which 600 were in the capital (Siol.net, 2012). However, the local partner, Kralji Ulice, has counted over 700 homeless people who accessed services in the first six months of 2023, with a conservative forecast of about 900-1000 total people reached by the end of the year: in 66% of cases these are men with an average age of 43. Minors and women (about 33%) are also among the beneficiaries with peculiar problems often linked to situations of family abuse.