Innovative residential scheme Inclusive housing project starts in Bad Godesberg
Bad Godesberg · Tenants have moved into the inclusive housing project on Kreisauer Straße. Families from Syria, Romania, Afghanistan and Iran, a German-Brazilian family, two single parents and six single people from Bonn now live here.
Regardless of background, skin colour or whether or not they have a handicap, everyone helps each other at the recently set up housing project in Kreisauer Straße. This is where several generations meet, who live together and want to help each other with the challenges of everyday life. This is the basic idea of the initiator of the project, which is aimed at people eligible for state housing. Tenants began move into the building with house number six, which was specially constructed for the venture, last December. A few days ago, the residential community was complete.
“A dream has finally come true for me,” says house resident Claudia Koenig. “Whether a light needs to be hung or a curtain pole screwed in, there is always someone there who can help you.” The 66-year-old is one of the leading forces in the undertaking and is part of the “At home together with others” association formed in 2017, which, after initial ideas four years ago, aimed to get the residential project in Plittersdorf off the ground. “The project was a unique cooperation between the city of Bonn, the public housing association Vebowag, the Rheinviertel civic trust and the association,” said Koenig.
Fourteen parties now live in apartments in the house, which was built as social housing in little more than a year. “We have a colourful mix of people here,” says Koenig. “They include a family from Syria with four children, a married couple from Romania with two children, one from Afghanistan with three children, a family from Iran with two children, a German-Brazilian family with two teenagers, and two single parents each with one child. Six single people from Bonn, who are mostly over 55, and a Syrian refugee in his mid-twenties also live here.”
Among the many advantages of the residential community are that older tenants can stay independent for longer through the support of the other tenants and young refugee families receive help with homework, for example through babysitting or the reading of fairytales, says Koenig. “At the same time, everyone must learn to live together but also respect individual privacy, i.e. respecting a closed door,” she says. A shared apartment with a kitchen, terrace and guest room acts as a meeting point.
“We celebrated the birthday of one of the residents here a few days ago,” explains resident Anja Oschkinat. “Living together works really well,” she says. Detlef Ekert from the Vebowag portfolio management, which the residents like to call the “project’s good fairy,” is also happy. “Everything went according to plan,” says Eckert. “Next we will support the housing community with a donation to buy furniture for the shared apartment.”
The Rheinviertel civic trust also wants to do something towards equipping the internal meeting point. “We are donating 1000 Euro for tables, chairs and benches,” says pastor Wolfgang Picken. (Original text: Dennis Sennekamp. Translation: kc.)
