35 Americans from the US House of Representatives paid a special visit to Bulgaria and during their stay they had the opportunity to visit the city of Dupnitsa. The congressmen, who represent part of US legislature, expressed interest in getting acquainted with the "Housing Conditions and Regulation" program area of the Trust for Social Achievement Foundation.
Through this program area the TSA aims to improve the living conditions in the unregulated Roma neighborhoods in the country. The congressmen, accompanied by a TSA team which consisted of Sarah Perrin (TSA Executive Director), Maria Metodieva and Dimitar Lazarov, managed to get acquainted with the progress made under the program. So far, the TSA has managed, with the help of the municipal administration, to regulate a plot of land of 110 decares in Dupnitsa and to support the development of a new Detailed Development Plan (DDP).
The second step of the Program envisages 150 Roma families to be given the opportunity to buy land and build a new home. In their capacity of representatives of US legislature, the TSA shared with the congressmen the Foundation’s experience and proposals for legislative amendments aimed at improving the residential conditions in similar neighborhoods in the country.