The asylum of the poor in Oslo – – I have no choice

It’s 8.30 on Wednesday morning. Many have already turned up outside the Greenland Church to queue for the last food distribution from the House of the Poor before Easter.

The church opens its doors at 9. When people receive their ticket from Deacon Hanna Haraldstad, they line up their purse or bag along the sidewalk and wait in the area.

The queue grows longer and longer until the distribution begins at 11. For the next two hours, it stretches for most of the quarter.

Greater progress during the pandemic

The Oslo poorhouse has seen a steady increase during the pandemic. Many have lost their income and ended up in financial trouble. The capital is particularly affected.

Astrid Åsbakk is a Fattighuset volunteer. Your task is to make sure that everything goes smoothly and that people keep their distance in line. She has first names with many who come back regularly, but she has undergone a change lately.

– There are many people here that I have never seen before. Every time I stop here, I meet someone new, he says.

Dagbladet has spoken with some of those who showed up on Wednesday morning. Some have needed help for several years, while others have arrived recently. In common for them is that they struggle to make ends meet. Neither wants their name in the newspaper.

People in the queue

– I have no other choice. I am in a difficult financial situation, so this is the only chance I have to get enough food, says a young man who meets us outside the church.

He says he has lived in Norway since 2003. He started coming to Poor House to get food about two years ago when he lost his job. The pandemic has not made it easy to return to work.

He has no family here that he can trust. The economy is tight. Therefore, it is considered completely dependent on help to get enough food in everyday life.

– I am proud to go here myself, but it is difficult, he says.

“Ginette” came to Norway three years ago as an au pair and is now studying to become a kindergarten teacher, as her home country education is not approved here. Before the pandemic, she worked as a cleaner alongside her studies, earning enough to earn a living.

In the last year, the position was drastically reduced and the economy accordingly. You are not entitled to any kind of student support.

“Ginette” found out about the House of the Poor a few weeks ago and has since appeared three times to receive a bag of food. Due to the difficult situation, she was recently allowed to stay for free with the family she previously worked for.

– They have helped me. I know that if I tell them that I am really struggling, they will help me more. I do not want to. They’ve helped a lot, she says.

Another man says he worked as a swimming coach before the pandemic. In the last year he has done little work. He receives support from Nav, but it is not enough to feed the family.

– Coming here and getting free food helps a lot, he says.

Many people have dinner anyway

When Dagbladet visited the volunteers at the Fattighuset warehouse on Tuesday afternoon, they realized that very few would be getting a dinner this week.

The organization mainly receives products from local shops, Matsentralen and other non-regular donors who are contacted. Products are often close to their expiration date and are therefore given away rather than thrown away. After the supermarket chains began to reduce the price of products that were approaching the expiration date, the supply to the House of the Poor was reduced.

What and how much they have to distribute varies a lot. Much of what they get from stores is bad and needs to be thrown away.

Already on Wednesday morning, the panorama had changed. Various individuals arrive with donations from the beginning until the distribution begins.

– I think it’s a shame. We cannot have in Norway that people cannot pay for food, says one of them.

His son asked another man who runs a restaurant in the capital if they couldn’t help. They could. Before opening time on Wednesday morning, he gathered his colleagues and managed to arrive with several boxes of prepared food shortly before the food distribution began.

The volunteers continue to pack the products until they are empty, either in the warehouse or in the queue.

– Now the products come at once, all the time. It is very nice to be able to offer people a proper meal. Today will be late for Easter, says volunteer May Wiik.

Variable access to food

Due to the additional contributions, many were able to go home with their well-stocked bags of food before the Poor House is closed for a week.

Press contact Sverre Rusten says they are very satisfied with the response from individuals, shops and organizations that have contributed.

– Really we appreciate. This is how we should have it every day, he says.

Increased demand and variable access to food make planning difficult for the organization. Volunteers try to spread the word so that everyone who shows up gets something to take home.

If they have less food to distribute, the contents of the bags become thinner. It also happens that someone has to go home empty-handed, because the warehouse is empty.

– Fixed deliveries, a kind of guarantee that we always received a certain amount of something, had made planning easier. Then we wouldn’t have risked the coincidences deciding whether or not we get something to hand out, Rusten told Dagbladet on Tuesday.

On Wednesday, they received signs of an increase in deliveries from some players. It gives some security for the future, he says.