Creating opportunity for change.
We bring people off the street by handing over a key
No queue, no abstinence requirement, no deadline to prove they deserve it. Housing first, support after, for as long as it takes.
What we have built so far
- 15
- people supported since 2021
- 9
- people supported today
- 20+
- years of stable housing delivered
- Adding up the time across every story.
- R$1,000
- average cost per person, per month
- Rent, food allowance and medication outside the public health system.
This problem has a solution, and it has been tested
In December 2025, Brazil had 365,822 people experiencing homelessness registered in the federal social registry, against roughly 328,000 a year earlier. Seven in ten are Black. [1]
The traditional response is a staircase: shelter, then shared shelter, then proving abstinence, and only then a home. Every step is a point where someone can fail and go back to the street.
There is another way. Housing First hands over the home first, and has thirty years of evidence that it works better and costs the State less. Entire cities and countries have cut homelessness sharply with it.
- [1]Brazilian Observatory of Public Policy for the Homeless Population (Polos de Cidadania/UFMG), based on the federal social registry (Cadastro Único), December 2025. https://www.ufmg.br/comunicacao/radio-ufmg-educativa/publicacoes/noticias-externas/numero-de-pessoas-em-situacao-de-rua-cresce-no-brasil-em-2025-mostra-polos-de-cidadania-da-ufmg/
How we do it
The Opening Doors programme has applied Housing First in São Carlos since 2021. In practice, it comes down to three moves.
1. We open a door
We rent a home and hand over the key. The Institute covers the rent, with no prior conditions at all.
2. We stay alongside
Weekly visits, a plan built together with the person, and connection to the city's health and social services.
3. We give autonomy back
Rebuilding ties, finding income and running their own home, until the person can sustain it independently.
A little of our impact…
“I need this opportunity.
I want to learn more.
You never know everything.
Where would I like to be?
I want to be here.”
This is Luciano, changed and renewed.
Luciano Vicente de Souza
Supported by Se Mudando
An open case depends on cash for next month
Our income comes entirely from donations. A recurring donation, however small, is what lets us decide to open a new door.
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