Photo: Jon Tyson on Unsplash
14 November is the Day of the Poor. On this occasion, Lviv Now’s sister publication Tvoe Misto (Ukrainian) compiled the best local ways join charity and why we should help others.
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There are several organizations in Lviv that help poor people. Everyone can help the homeless, says Natalia Sanotska, coordinator of the Mutual aid community «Emmaus-Oselya« (Emmaus House). The community has been operating in Lviv since 2003.
It is now home to 30 former homeless people. Containers are placed around the city, where you can leave clothes to those in need. From the containers, clothes and things are taken to the warehouse, sorted, some are distributed to the poor, and some are sold through charity shops. In fact, «Emmaus-Oselya» is functioning thanks to the funds raised in the stores.
The «Emmaus-Oselya» Mutual Aid Community is located in Lviv at I. Franka, 69 street. There are also two charity shops at I. Franka, 53 and Uhorska, 2.
The Community of St. Egidius, which has been existing since 2001, also functions in Lviv. You can help here with a simple acquaintance. Community Coordinator Larysa Shydlovska says that the solution to each problem is very individual.
In Lviv, the Community of St. Egidius is located at street Pidvalna, 4.
«Often it is to buy boots, a jacket, medicine, to take someone to the doctor. In fact, only some of the people to whom we distribute food are homeless. Many of them have a lot of housing. Sometimes they are in very bad condition and they have no means of livelihood,» – she said.
Everyone can do something with their own hands: pack food, give it to the poor, meet them in person. The Community also asks for warm clothes and shoes, products and funds. Sometimes people need the simplest food package: porridge, pasta, oil.
Olena Karnaukh from the Spiritual Renaissance Foundation says that you can help with money, you can just find out where to go if there is a homeless person on the street or in the entrance.
«Sometimes joining is to show attention, not to show aggression, disgust, but to ask questions, to direct somewhere. This sometimes requires more effort than giving a resource,» – Olena Karnaukh says.
The Spiritual Revival Foundation is located at square St. George, 5 in Lviv.
We will add that this year, on World Homelessness Day 10 October, Bishop Benedict (Aleksiychuk), Bishop of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church (part of the Roman Catholic Church), ruling bishop of the Diocese of St. Nicholas in Chicago, raised 374,000 hryvnias at a charity banquet for the homeless.
Translated by Vitalii Holich
You can read a Ukrainian language version of this story here.
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