“Sweet Home” Foundation: «We succeeded in preventing more than one third of cases of child abandonment»18-year-old Lena and her three-month old son Maxim live a little wooden hose at the outskirts of the town of Gatchina, the Leningrad region. Lena has no documents, neither a passport nor even a birth certificate, which means that she, as a person, does not really exist for the outside world, and there is no government entity that would be willing to extend a helping hand to her. Lena has never attended school. When her mother died four years ago, Lena’s distant relative Yekaterina, who is retired on pension, gave her a home. Since then, all three of them have lived together on a tiny pension. But for the assistance of professionals with the “Sweet Home” Foundation in Gatchina, it would be extremely difficult for them to survive. In addition to basic supplies, such as food and children’s clothing, the Foundation’s experts are always ready to provide psychological support and counseling and offer a sympathetic ear to all the family grievances. The Foundation “Sweet Home” came to know about the girl who had no documents when Lena was pregnant. “We managed to have her registered with a pre-natal clinic,” Larisa Kalinina, the Foundation’s Director, said. “She visited doctors and was examined regularly. That’s why she gave birth to a healthy baby.” «But for us, no one would have been dealing with her. She would have had to place her child with a children’s home”, Larisa said. “Lena is a caring mother. She loves her baby and wants to take care of him herself”. There are 30 families in similar circumstances under Larisa’s direct supervision, and each of them has problems of its own. The Foundation “Sweet Home” has undertaken all possible efforts to enable children to stay with their families and provides much-needed material and moral support for the mothers. The results are indeed impressive: only this year, child abandonment has been prevented in ten cases (which constitutes more than one third of all cases of child abandonment in the district). The district administration, international organizations, such as UNICEF and Every Child, as well as private individuals provide financial assistance to the Foundation. The experience gained by the “Sweet Home” Foundation in Gatchina shows that it would cost much less to prevent child abandonment rather than provide for the upkeep of abandoned children at infant homes - 7,800 and 21,600 rubles accordingly (in terms of prices valid in 2006). Therefore, experts are sure that the funds used to cover the cost of children’s upkeep at infant homes for prolonged periods of time could be reassigned towards support programs which would facilitate the child’s return to his/her biological family. Today, the “Sweet Home” Foundation sees its principal task as regards Lena’s situation in having appropriate documents issued both to her and her little son Maxim. Lena has big plans for her future: “Maxim will grow up a little, and I’ll place him in a kindergarten. As to me, I’ll find a job, may be of a shop assistant,” she said smiling happily.
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