BBC — A bus has been converted into a bathroom to help homeless people in Athens stay clean. There’s also a washing machine van for them to wash their clothes.
Poverty rates have surged here since the start of the crisis in late 2009, with nearly 36 percent of the country living in financial distress, according to the European Union’s statistics agency, Eurostat. Nearly one in four Greeks is unemployed and receives no benefits. State funding has increased for homeless programs, but so has bureaucracy.
The shower bus program started in late November, with plans to rotate around 12 sites in the city. So far it can only set up at one of those locations.
“The bus needs electricity, water input and a sewage outlet — that’s not always easy to find on a street corner. There are many more places that need this facility,” said Ioanna Pertsinidou, head of anti-poverty campaigns at Praksis, a Greek charity that runs the privately-funded program.
