Homelessness

“Let your love be the kindness to make a homeless person believe that a soul needs something more than just four walls and a ceiling.” — Munia Khan

Hi,everyone! I hope y’all healthy and safe. Today I would like to share my opinion about one of the most serious problem in Russia. The homeless people have always been a part of our culture.

This issue has historic roots. Every political conflict or revolution provoked rapid growth of hunger, illnesses and the amount of homeless people. After the October Revolution, or the fall of the Soviet Union thousands of people were estranged from their nearest and dearest and had to sleep rough. Unstable employment, high prices on real estate, mortgage, medicine and food stimulated the upsurge of broke citizens and many of them ended up on the brink of poverty.

Nowadays, the average age of a homeless person is about 45 years old. A typical portrait is- former prisoner without a degree, suffering from a serious mental or physical disease, addicted to alcohol or illegal substances. Sadly, there are hundreds and hundreds of homeless women, unable to take care of themselves.

Now let’s turn to the more positive aspect of the problem of homelessness. What can we do to protect people and give them a chance to start their life from scratch? Personally, I was happy to see so many volunteering organizations that are supported by locals and philantrops. Here is the link to the site where you can find information about various facilities that are meant to help people in difficult life situations:https://homeless.ru/en/. The homeless are provided with clothes, food, washing machine and shower. Social workers and psychologists help them to socialize and fight addictions. Also there is a way to restore documents and get a ticket to another city.

A homeless person in one of the biggest shelters in Saint-Petersburg.