On this website you can find information about living moneyless that is sometimes somewhat glorifying. It's not always great to be without money, especially if you don't have a convenient place to go to in winters. As the climate in Northern Europe is moving towards sharper extremities, the coldest winter weeks become a real challenge for homeless people. In Lithuania, persons without a stable place to live must survive a couple of weeks each year when temperatures drop below -15 C. Where do they go and how does extreme cold change their usual walking routes?
According to Lithuanian media, two homeless people are reported to have died during the coldest weeks in Kaunas and one in the West of the country. Temperatures below -25 C are considered to be 'dangerous cold', and shelters are obliged to allow people to stay inside all day long. Otherwise only retired homeless and people with disabilities are permitted to stay – those who are capable of working are expected to look for jobs. Many shelters require homeless people to be sober, which discourages large numbers of them to even try staying there. The maximum length of residence in a shelter is half a year.
According to media reports, many homeless persons rather rely on themselves and make a new home in abandoned garages, central heating powerhouses, storage houses, construction sites and even staircases of apartment blocks. According to anthropologist Dr. Rasa Indriliūnaitė, who defended her thesis on survival strategies of homeless people last year, the routes that connect shelters, 'soup kitchens', abandoned warm places and shops, where collected empty bottles can be sold, constitute shared knowledge among the homeless. Many associate with one another depending on the type of substances they use and hence need to regularly obtain – either alcohol or drugs. During the weeks of extreme cold, shelters are instructed to host homeless persons regardless of their addiction and condition.
Increasingly stricter control in public transport prevents homeless persons, who travel without tickets, from reaching some of the 'nods' in their routes. Since some of the shelters are far away from city centers, homeless persons avoid taking the risk. According to a regional newspaper in Palanga, the most popular sea resort, the absence of a shelter pushes homeless people to stay in garages or even swimming pools.
In conditions of extreme cold, residents are publicly encouraged to report any rough sleepers by calling the emergency number. It can take only five minutes to get a frostbite on open limbs. Every year homeless people lose their limbs when they receive medical help too late. According to doctors interviewed by Alfa.lt news portal, sometimes treatment takes months, and when a homeless person is released from hospital, it is almost winter again.
