Housing project for severely ME/CFS sufferers in Neunkirchen-Seelscheid, Germany: Interested parties wanted!

John Mac

John Mac

Senior Member (Voting Rights)
A housing project specifically for people with severe ME/CFS, including 24-hour assistance, is being planned in Neunkirchen-Seelscheid . A developer, in collaboration with Sozialhummel, plans to build barrier-free apartments in 53819 Neunkirchen-Seelscheid that are optimally tailored to the needs of people with severe ME/CFS.

Planned framework conditions of the residential project:

  • Soundproofing: The apartments should be specially soundproofed.
  • Ventilation: High-quality ventilation systems are provided.
  • Blackout: The windows should be completely blackout and soundproof.
  • Indoor climate: Bedrooms are planned on the north side to ensure pleasant temperatures.
  • Accessibility: The entire building should be constructed in a barrier-free manner.
  • Social housing: The rent will be based on the social welfare regulations for housing costs (KdU).
With this project, we aim to provide support, especially to those who are severely affected – ideally also to those currently in nursing homes. To realize this project, we need at least five interested parties who meet the following requirements:

  • Entitlement to integration assistance with 24-hour support (Sozialhummel also helps with the application process)
  • Income/assets in accordance with social welfare law requirements
The apartments are expected to be completed in summer 2026. Neunkirchen-Seelscheid is located in the eastern Rhein-Sieg district in a quiet, rural setting, yet offers good infrastructure with nearby shopping facilities.

We would now like to establish a waiting list for interested parties . If you or someone you know who is severely affected by ME/CFS is interested in this housing project, we look forward to hearing from you.

Contact:
If you are interested or have further questions, please contact:
Silke Horn, Managing Director of Sozialhummel, silke.horn@sozialhummel.de

https://sozialhummel.de/wohnprojekt...neunkirchen-seelscheid-interessenten-gesucht/
 
Utsikt said:
Is this a first of its kind?
Click to expand...
99% sure it is. And reading it nearly made me cry. This is exactly what is needed.

And if this pans out well, it is definitive proof that governments could properly provide for severe people if they wanted too.

Important to note though it’s a charity project, not government.
But I could definitely see something like this being done by governments in the future. Especially somewhere like vienna which is probably the most ME-aware city on earth thanks to political lobbying by the Ströck family, and also coincidentally is the city with the highest percentage of social housing in western-central europe. I think somewhere between a third and half of housing units are social housing.
 
Yann04 said:
And if this pans out well, it is definitive proof that governments could properly provide for severe people if they wanted too.
Click to expand...
Very good point!

And the buildings could be used for all kinds of severely disabled patients due to their universal design, which means that they could easily be repurposed if that is a potential barrier for building them.
 
Apart from the other obvious aspects that could make this a great project, this could make it very feasible to include a group of severe ME/CFS patients in trials happening around Cologne as a researcher would presumably only have to travel to one location to get what would be required of all participating patients.

There's probably some fairly complicated legal aspects one has to consider (what happens if a patient recovers etc), but I'm sure that can be dealt with.
 
EndME said:
Apart from the other obvious aspects that could make this a great project, this could make it very feasible to include a group of severe ME/CFS patients in trials happening around Cologne as a researcher would presumably only have to travel to one location to get what would be required of all participating patients.

There's probably some fairly complicated legal aspects one has to consider (what happens if a patient recovers etc), but I'm sure that can be dealt with.
Click to expand...
Yes. And the location seems rather appropriate in that it’s in a quaint commuter village near Bonn, but it’s fairly quick drive to medical services and hospitals on the outskirts. (Like Siegburg)
 
It sounds amazing!

Ironically, building this kind of accommodation doesn't necessarily need to be highly technical. I've accompanied a friend on visits to an elderly aunt, and she lives in a 40-year-old social housing bungalow that would probably suit the purpose.

It's like mine, but on her development they're fully detached instead of semi-detached, so there's no possibility of neighbour noise. They're accessible, have two bedrooms and a wet room, a garden that the council maintains, and a warden service where you can choose the amount of contact you have and the means of doing it.

It's also really quiet. The houses are well insulated against extremes of temperature, which also means well insulated against noise. They're built on cul-de-sacs, so there's no passing traffic or pedestrians.

It's possible existing homes like these would only need triple glazing and a blackout blind system added, which in the grand scheme of things isn't an expensive adaptation. Many local authorities will already have architectural plans, as once they develop good designs that tenants like, they tend to re-use them.
 
Last edited:
Yann04 said:
Reading the thread brings a couple red flags about them continually claiming they are able to treat patients and that everyone who goes there gets better.
Click to expand...
I’ve heard that patients that have been there say that they are allowed to decide on their own what they want to do in terms of treatments, if any. But the doc, Storla, is known for providing prescription for the usual suspects of experimental treatments if you want it.
 
Last edited:
Utsikt said:
Does anyone know if this project will include medical assistance? Or is that something that’s already provided by the public sector?
Click to expand...
As far as I understand. They are only looking for patients whose disability assessment already means the government provides them 24 hr care.

So all the charity would really be doing is building the place and sort of managing it. But they would integrate the already existing german social support.
 
Yann04 said:
As far as I understand. They are only looking for patients whose disability assessment already means the government provides them 24 hr care.

So all the charity would really be doing is building the place and sort of managing it. But they would integrate the already existing german social support.
Click to expand...
Ah, that’s a pragmatic solution on their end.
 
Kitty said:
It's possible existing homes like these would only need triple glazing and a blackout blind system added, which in the grand scheme of things isn't an expensive adaptation. Many local authorities will already have architectural plans, as once they develop good designs that tenants like, they tend to re-use them.
Click to expand...
It does sound great, both what they’re doing here and what you describe Kitty. Adding an air to air heat pump and some solar panels would be a great way to ensure heat in the winter and cooling in the summer too.

I’ve often dreamt of a bungalow like that. Somewhere I could even get outside of when having a better spell. A lot better than being stuck in an attic room for years!
 
There were attempts to do this in the UK but I don’t think they got anywhere. There was a charity focused on this kind of issue (ME Trust?) but it folded it. There were a few people in East Anglia trying to do something but haven’t heard anything in 5-10 years. A few people were interested in donating to the latter but the most likely outcome it seemed to me was any money raised would just help the four individuals who were trying to get a joint house for themselves.
 
I just read your article about creating housing for severely ill people with MECFS in Germany.

While I live in the United States of America in the southwest in Las Vegas, Nevada, I am not an interested candidate for your project, but I have been working on a similar project for the same population here to also include long Covid.

Funding is always a barrier, so I wonder how your project is funded.

I’d like to communicate with you over time and share information and ideas if you are willing. I only speak English so, we could simply text or sometimes maybe have a Zoom call if you speak English. If you like, I can send you my draft proposal for my ideal housing for MECFS/LC.

Thank you. I look forward to hearing from you.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom