Some newly arrived EU citizens live in extremely precarious and unstable conditions. These are often triggered by acute crises such as serious illness, impending or existing homelessness, loss of employment combined with difficult legal conditions (e.g. exclusion from benefits under SGB II and XII) and ignorance of one’s own rights. Added to this are experiences of discrimination and racism (everyday and structural racism), in particular antiziganism and anti-Slavic racism, experiences of exploitation in the workplace, human trafficking and poverty. Lack of health insurance coverage complicates healthcare provision. In addition, there are family-specific challenges, such as specific requirements for housing, material conditions for childcare and school attendance. Roma and Sinti are particularly affected by these problems.
The project ‘Begegnen – Beraten – Wohnen (B²W) – Gemeinsam Zusammen in Erfurt’ (Encounter – Advice – Housing – Together in Erfurt) aims to provide access to the social support system and stabilise the living situation of those affected through individual advice and support. This is to be achieved, among other things, by:
- Highlighting prospects for residence rights
- Advice on access to the social security system
- Referral counselling and support to specialised counselling centres and contact persons in the regular support system (e.g. for human trafficking, health insurance, debt, finding accommodation, finding language courses)
- Support in finding a school place and daycare centre, applying for child benefit, and education and participation
- Clarification of the initial professional situation and access to the Employment Agency, Job Centre, projects and career counselling services
Target group:
Particularly disadvantaged are newly arrived EU citizens and their children under the age of 18, as well as members of minority groups (including marginalized communities such as Roma and Sinti). These individuals must not have resided in Germany for more than five years or be receiving social security benefits (under SGB II, III, or XII).
In addition, the project trains and raises awareness among public administration employees, regular support system institutions and social work organisations in Erfurt – on the one hand about the living conditions and needs of the target groups and on the other hand about the issues of anti-discrimination and anti-Gypsyism.
You can download the training catalog at the following link: https://ibs-thueringen.de/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Weiterbildungskatalog-B2W-Antidiskriminierung.pdf
The project ‘Begegnen – Beraten – Wohnen (B²W) – Gemeinsam Zusammen in Erfurt’ (Encounter – Advice – Housing – Together in Erfurt) is being carried out in cooperation with the Erfurt Social Welfare Office and Caritas Bistum Erfurt.
[1] We use the crossed-out version of antiziganism here to clearly distance ourselves from the Z-word.
