Care for 20 homeless people in Tbilisi, Georgia

Thank you very much to everyone who supported us in 2015. Thanks to your regular gifts we can plan with some certainty how to organise the feeding of our residents. This year we helped our 21 permanent residents and also didn’t forget about street children who turn to us in search of food which provides a little stability in their lives.

Our house lives on a pretty much hand to mouth basis with donations which we receive from supporters like you and local in-kind donations from individuals and a few organisations. If you would like to make a donation, this would be a great time to do so. Anything you can give us is hugely appreciated.

The challenge we faced this year remains the same as in previous years – we are the only organisation in Tbilisi which takes care of vulnerable homeless teenagers and young adults over 16 years old. Once they turn 16, they are on their own if they have previously been in a shelter or orphanage. There are no state programmes which specifically help these youngsters.

Despite the lack of state support, we do our best to give our young people a secure feeling of home and also look for any opportunity for them to receive vocational and domestic skills training so that they can look forward to a stable future as adults.

One of those training courses is sponsored by the McLain Association for Children (MAC) which continues to provide the basic education for our children and teenagers who need to catch up with general subjects. This organisation also helped us establish an enamel workshop for our teenagers. Once they learn this craft they will be able to earn money for themselves.

With the help of the local TBC bank we are able to pay costs towards the most essential needs of our small children, while our local supporter Tea Dzokhadze gives us 100 GEL/month ($42 or £28). The local Doctor Madona Ukleba and the Mgaloblishvili Clinic look after the health of our children.

This is a magical time of the year and we are also preparing for our New Year celebrations. This year we have received a wonderful gift from the local branch of EBRD – three Christmas trees! Our toddlers Georgy, Vano, Nastya and Mary will take part at a New Year party at their kindergarten – they have already learned their New Year poems by heart.

We are looking forward to cooking Georgia’s famous dish “satzivi” (chicken in walnut sauce) – we have saved plenty of walnuts which we gathered this autumn.  Our friend and the head baker in one of Tbilisi’s restaurants “Oqros Kstkha” Nino Mikeladze will bake us a holiday cake. We will provide a holiday dinner for as many as we can afford to feed. 

We would be very grateful if you can help us to feed as many street children as we can during this festive season. It is wonderful to see their eyes lit up and to realise how excited these children can be at this very special time of year!