Location
Chernivtska Olbast, Ukraine
Community Description
Chernivtsi Oblast is an oblast (province) in western Ukraine, bordering on Romania and Moldova. Its capital is the city Chernivtsi. The region has a population of 913,275 and spans 8,100 km².
The agency Narodna Dopomoha, was founded 19 years ago by University students who saw the ravages of homelessness after the collapse of the Soviet Union. Without access to adequate social services models using best practices, the group formed early alliances with agencies in Denmark, The Netherlands, and Austria.
The City of Chernivtsi has become a strong partner in this work, as has the oblast. The staff, community members, volunteers and clients are engaged in seeing that their most vulnerable friends and neighbors have access to basic needs, progressive housing, medical care, documents, training and access of civil society.
Narodna Dopomoha Chernivtsi suffered a lease termination from the building they occupied for many years. The City of Chernivtsi offered the agency an old school building in the City Center, located at Barbusa No 6, listed on the historic register, which has been vacant for ten years.
The building has three floors and can house all the services of the agency. However, it needs considerable work to be done very quickly to ready the building to provide shelter for homeless people, especially during the harsh western Ukraine winter.
Project Description
This project is to provide several crucial sanitation services for the center.
First, plumbing for a shower and a washing machine will be installed for the night shelter.
Then a shower will be added to the first floor, which will house the dormitories for the men and women moving through the progressive living, training and return to work programs
Then a bathroom will be added on the second floor. This will include a sink, toilet, shower and washing machine. The area will serve as independent living – a group of rooms with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities that are rented for a small fee to those clients who are employed and are re-establishing their credit worthiness to move into apartments and flats.
All work will be done at the 6 Barbusa address. Currently, the agency has one of the three needed electric boilers; all three of the shower stalls, the toilet to be added and both washing machines.
They will need to purchase a sink for the second floor and two additional electric boilers. The rest of the funds will be used to pay for the professional labor and for those other installation materials. Manual labor will be provided by clients, volunteers and staff of the agency.
Project Impact
The center provides a multitude of services for over 200 homeless individuals per year. (In 2010, the night shelter was used 10,596 bed/nights.)
Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Megan O’Connor
Comments
The project to ready the new building will allow the agency to continue to serve the homeless, impoverished, disabled, addicted, displaced and vulnerable populations by offering shelter, documents, medical assistance and basic needs.
Dollar Amount of Project
$555.00
Donations Collected to Date
$555.00
Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 – This project has been fully funded through the generosity of The Soneva SLOW LIFE Trust as a part of their Clean Water Projects initiative.
We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify Peace Corps Volunteer Megan O’Connor of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Megan and/or those of other PCVs in the country of service.
This project has been finished. To read about the conclusion of the project, CLICK HERE.