Tucked away at the back of Istanbul’s busiest, most expensive tourist hotspots – Istiklal, sits Tarlabasi, a neighbourhood housing a diverse array of communities – Roma, Kurdish, Turkish, Syrian, and a home to many refugees and migrants who have fled war, violence and oppression.

Distracted by the array of shops, bars and clubs on Istiklal, most tourists (and even locals) will never have stepped into Tarlabasi and met the people or heard the stories of those living there. The neighbourhood is economically poor, dubbed as ‘Istanbul’s oldest slum,’ but culturally rich. Alongside being a home to many of Istanbul’s refugees, it’s also a home to a sizable transgender community, who have formed solidarity groups in the area.

There’s been many threats to the local community, since it was declared a ‘re-generation project,’ which, like most gentrification projects has, and will displace many poor residents.

Tarlabasi Dayanisma is a community based, grassroots collective who provide vital support to the Tarlabasi locals. The group is like a family, and many of the residents refer to the group as Tarlabasi’s father, mother, brothers and sisters.

Every night, Tarlabasi Dayanisma runs a soup kitchen for homeless and destitute locals. The group receives no governmental support or additional funding, and the soup kitchen is paid for from the pockets of the founders. Every day, the kitchen is brought to life and filled with locals, refugees, homeless children and families. Homeless children arrive in groups, and are met with love, hot food and warm winter clothes, which have been donated by the founders and their friends.

Alongside the soup kitchen, the group provides essential social services. The ‘solidarity house’ houses homeless refugees and provides meals and clothes. The group ran educational support sessions for destitute children during the pandemic, they respond to emergency calls from refugees in need, open-up their home and their hearts to the most vulnerable in society and provide care to those who have lost everything.

The group receives no funding, and it’s a critical time to raise some money so that the group can grow and expand on the work they’re already doing. The soup kitchen needs renovation work to be able to house and feed more people, and the group needs funding to be able to provide critical support to homeless and destitute people in the community.

We will use the funds to:

Renovate the community soup kitchen and buy furniture so we can seat more people and make it cosy

Buy food for the community kitchen to continue feeding people every night

Purchase books, toys and educational materials for refugee children

Buy kids shoes, coats and clothes for homeless children

Buy winter coats, sleeping bags and warm clothes for adults to survive the winter months

Buy medicine, toiletries and other emergency items for those in need.