Let’s play an imagination game. You are on the street, amidst the car engines’ hum and the chatter of dozens of people sharing their stories. However, you are alone, with no one to share everything that’s on your mind. You have no one to share your joys with, no one to share your sorrows with, you simply have no one…
That’s how #subcerulliber began. The reality for homeless people is that they have no one to share their thoughts with, and that’s precisely why, when you take just 1 minute to find out at least their name and how they’re feeling on that day, you’ve actually given them the most beautiful thing possible.
Cătălin Dumitrașcu (cemedeul), the co-founder of the Intercalat Association, a photographer and videographer from Bucharest, saw people living in the city center becoming increasingly invisible day by day.
In June 2020, he began documenting their stories with the goal of educating and inspiring humanity.
The video series was shared on cemedeul’s personal social media channels and on a public Facebook page, accumulating over 800,000 views.
In August 2020, the co-founder of the association, Georgiana Bîrdan, joined the production team, spending her days getting to know as many stories from the streets of Bucharest as possible. The desire to get involved was even stronger. As a result, #subcerulliber became a mission for the entire team, a duty that both members had to fulfill. From this point on, there was no turning back.
When Cătălin and Georgiana were about to start the second season of #subcerulliber, the desire to establish the Intercalat Association had already been born. The beauty of the events led to the third member of the association being Georgiana Bîrdan’s childhood friend and middle school classmate. Georgiana Vornicu, a social assistant from Iași, joined the project, and together, regardless of the distance, they worked intensively on everything that was to come.
Although the plans had been set in stone since 2020, Intercalat officially became an association only in April 2021, and we can only be very grateful that we can now officially be called a non-profit legal entity.
#unexpected
November 2020 brought a pleasant surprise from one of Cătălin’s friends who, along with an experienced chef, proposed that we start a weekly action to help people on the streets. Therefore, November 5 marked the beginning of our presence in Colțea Park, Universitate, symbolizing the place where the first video in the #subcerulliber series was recorded.
From week to week, we began to connect friends, both with the homeless people and with the #intercalat volunteers. Beautiful surprises kept coming, and as a result, the HoReCa industry, such as #aici, Fishtodoor, Restaurant Mon Paris, Socului Kebap, Sarmale și Sarmale, came to our aid. In addition to the goodies donated by these restaurants, we received numerous clothing donations from Romanian and international students, as well as the international brand LOULOU. We must also mention the artist Marius Manole, who was present at our activities, donated, and spread the word about #subcerulliber. Furthermore, the Center for Development Bucharest provided significant support, with enthusiastic volunteers eager to contribute to the cause.
Thank you for the support!
