Imagine a place where the integration of refugees isn't the product of chance encounters and the generosity of strangers. Instead, the interaction and support is by design: Flats in apartment buildings built for this very purpose are rented out in equal parts to refugee families and locals.

In the German state of Baden-Württemberg, this concept already exists -- in the form of so-called Hope Houses. This summer, a facility in the town of Öhringen will be added as the tenth location.

The apartment buildings are run by the Hoffnungsträger (German for 'the hopefuls') Foundation, which was founded ten years ago.

The managing director of the Hoffnungsträger Foundation, Marcus Witzke, sensed that something had to be done to help integrate the over one million newcomers who arrived in Germany in 2015 and 2016. When he and his allies realized that better interaction can be spurred by the way people live, the idea of the Hope Houses was born.

"We wanted neither a container solution nor a ghettoisation of the people who came to us," Witzke told the epd news agency.

Encounters by design

Each 'Hope House' has six to eight flats locals and refugee families alike call home. To ensure that interaction is not left to chance, an employed couple is in charge of organizing community events, personal counseling and other things from the beginning.

The Hoffnungsträger Foundation owns the houses and aims to unite as many different nationalities as possible under one roof. According to the foundation, this not only promotes the idea of tolerance, but also forces people to learn German more quickly as they need it in order to be able to communicate with their German-speaking neighbors.

According to epd, a total of 643 people currently live in 29 houses that have a total of 204 apartments. For every local, there's roughly two refugees.

Applying for a Hope House

Since Hope Houses are subsidized by the state, prospective tenants need a certificate of eligibility. Those who apply for a flat commit to doing ten hours of voluntary work for the community per month -- this applies to Germans as well as newcomers.

However, nobody controls whether people actually make good on their commitment, and residents don't join an association when moving in. "We rent out the apartments according to standard German tenancy law," managing director Witzke told epd.

The first house was opened seven years ago in Leonberg west of Stuttgart. Since then, other Hoffnungshäuser have been built in Bad Liebenzell, Calw, Esslingen, Constance, Nagold, Schwäbisch Gmünd, Sinsheim and Straubenhardt -- and most recently in Öhringen.

Up next: 'Future Houses'

In addition to the income from the tenants, each Hope House relies on payments from the foundation and other donations to cover the more than €150,000 in costs per year. 

Behind the Hoffnungsträger Foundation is Tobias Merckle, who in 2013 contributed a "high double-digit million amount" from his private assets, according to a book publication about him, epd reported.

This year, the Hope Houses family will grow: the so-called Future Houses will be added. While they are built in the same way, there is less of an emphasis on the social component. There will be no site managers, and the organization of community events and personal counseling will be carried out by part-time staff.

A pilot project with two houses is currently being built in the town of Mühlacker, also located in Baden-Württemberg. They are financed by the 'German Living Impact Fund,' which will also own the houses. According to epd, the Hoffnungsträger Foundation acts as a service provider and contributes the experience it gained from managing the Hope Houses.

This piece is based on an feature by news agency epd