Livny, Russia, October 24, 2018
Photo: diaconia.ru The Russian Orthodox Church is very active in providing homes for the less fortunate, and especially mothers in crisis situations and children.
Continuing this work, the Church’s 58th home for mothers was opened recently in the town of Livny, in the Oryol Province, 265 miles south of Moscow. The new crisis center is able to accommodate up to 10 pregnant women and mothers with children at a time, reports the site of the Patriarchal Department for Charity and Social Services.
During their stay at the shelter, social workers, psychologists, and lawyers will help the women resolve their difficult life situations.
The rite of consecration of the new shelter was celebrated by His Grace Bishop Nektary of Livny and Maloarkhangelsk. The opening of the shelter was attended by various Church and civil representatives, including several sisters of mercy.
Photo: diaconia.ru “We should have already had one mother with her child living here, but they both wound up in the Oryol Hospital. As soon as they are released they’ll come here with their stuff to live with us,” said Galina Rovenskaya of the Livny Diocese’s crisis and humanitarian centers.
“Tomorrow we’re going for another mother who just had her second child, with nowhere to register him, and the first has no documentation at all. While they live with us, our social workers will help them draw up their documents and solve other issues,” she added.
The shelter is a structural subdivision of the Church of St. Sergius in Livny. The city allocated the premises rent free, and the organizers were able to make repairs and purchase necessary equipment and furniture with funds from a presidential grant. Next to the shelter is also the humanitarian aid center “Ark,” which provides mothers with children with everything they need: strollers, cribs, clothes, shoes, etc.
The shelter is equipped with a large kitchen, a laundry room, a recreation room, a sports area, closets, and three bedrooms for 10 women with their children. There is also a sewing workshop at the shelter.
The Russian Orthodox Church operates 58 such shelters for women and another 169 humanitarian aid centers across the country.
The 57th shelter was opened in Tolbazy in the Republic of Bashkortostan in August of this year.
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