Markot is a Polish

Poland

Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...

 social movement, aimed at helping homeless people across Poland. It was founded by Marek Kotanski

Marek Kotanski

Marek Kotański, was a Polish charity worker and campaigner on behalf of disadvantaged people, including the homeless and those with HIV...

, a charity worker and campaigner on behalf of disadvantaged people and was based on an idea from late 1980s and early 1990s. First center of the movement was opened in a village of Lutynka, another one was opened in Jeleni Ruczaj, then a School of Life was founded in the village of Wandzin. The movement was legalized in 1994, in the same year in Warsaw

Warsaw

Warsaw is the capital and largest city of Poland. It is located on the Vistula River, roughly from the Baltic Sea and from the Carpathian Mountains. Its population in 2010 was estimated at 1,716,855 residents with a greater metropolitan area of 2,631,902 residents, making Warsaw the 10th most...

, a Center of Help was opened. It is estimated that in the 1990s, some 50% of beds for Polish homeless persons were administered by Markot. Marek Kotanski, leader of the movement, established Day of the Homeless (April 14) as well as an honorary title Friend of the Homeless.