For the entire year 2021, 56 companions lived in the Community. During the year, 20 companions signed declarations with the family doctor, which enabled access to medical examinations, treatment and vaccination (19 companions were vaccinated, 12 were hospitalized, 5 had surgical operations, 2 were issued with disability). This year, 14 companions renewed their documents, and 1 person received a pension.
In the community, companions receive psychological support, and newcomers have three-month trainings on addiction therapy, personal development, and the history of the Emmaus movement. In 2021, two social courses were held. An Alcoholics Anonymous group is held on in one of the “Oselya” buildings, and companions attend these meetings.
Our companion Olya, who was born in the Community, became a student and moved to a student dormitory.
One companion passed away due to a serious illness and left the community in grief.
All companions actively participate in solidarity actions and helping other people.
This year, because of the insufficient amount of water in the community building, we had to make a well. We did it thanks to the financial support of the Emmaus-Lublin community. We also replaced the electrical network in the kitchen and made some reconstructions there with the support of a donor.
18 adults and 4 children live in the social hostel of “Oselya”.
In order to generate funds for the community and solidarity actions “Oselya” runs economic activities. We collect used goods like furniture, clothes, household appliances, books, dishes, toys, etc. Items are collected through containers located at OKKO gas stations and parishes around the city. As of the end of the year, we have 31 containers in different locations in Lviv.
This year, we purchased a truck thanks to the International Renaissance Foundation and Crowdfunding platform “Spilnokosht”.
In total, we collected about 1,036,301 kg of clothes through the containers in 2021. Of these, 816,213 kg were reused – distributed daily for free to homeless and low-income people in the Support Center (in 2021 – 5,116 distributions), or sold in charity stores.
Part of the collected goods were donated to Regional Hospital of War Veterans and Repressed People named after Y. Lypa, NGO “Mercy-Lviv”, NGO “Healthy Future”, Lviv City Center of Social Services for Family, Children and Youth, NGO “Women for the Rights of IDPs”, NGO “Free Life of Lviv”, Murovane Territorial Community, Center for social support of orphans and children deprived of parental care and IDPs.
The ecological component of collecting goods is important as “Oselya” sells unusable clothes to be recycled (89,063 kg in 2021). 119,600 kg of goods collected through the containers are things that cannot be used or recycled (broken toys, mismatched or destroyed shoes, worn, torn haberdashery, dirty torn synthetic clothes, ordinary household waste). However, this is only 10% of the collected amount. The Lviv City Council and transport companies help us dispose it of to landfills.
Charity shops are the main source of income of Community and solidarity actions.
In the spring of 2021, our stores were closed for two months due to the quarantine.
The community participated in Zero Waste Fest 2021. The first lady of Lviv city helped us sell some goods to support our social projects.
Students of the Ukrainian Catholic University made a fashion show using donated cloth with the idea to teach young people to be careful with goods. Companions and students walked on the podium, and together demonstrated that there are no unnecessary things and unnecessary people and that it is worth being in solidarity during the difficult times of the pandemic. The show was followed by a garage sale.
The furniture workshop continued to work this year. 4 companions studied and worked there. They acquired skills in furniture repair, upholstery, and sewing. In total, in 2021, in the workshop we repaired 233 pieces of furniture (sofas, armchairs, chests of drawers, etc.) In 2021, the Support Center continued to work and 792 people received services here during the year.
In the Center, homeless people had consultations of a social worker and information about the pandemic, were provided with the necessary hygiene products, received hot food, clothes and shoes, sanitary and hygienic services (shower, haircut, washing clothes) and pre-medical assistance.
The functioning of the Center and street work was carried out thanks to the earnings of the Community, individual donations, support of the Department of Social Protection of the LMR, the Department of Economic Development of the LMR.
Throughout 2021, every Thursday the companions prepared lunch for a hundred homeless people and distributed it in the city center.
During street work, we invite people to use the services of the Support Center, inform about the symptoms of the COVID-19 disease and ways of its spread, disinfect hands, distribute hygiene products, talk about other places of help for homeless people. In 2021, we made 53 trips.
In 2020, Lviv resident Anna Kostiuk started a wonderful initiative: to celebrate special life events by purchasing food for our Thursday food distribution in the city centre. Her example was followed in 2021 as well. Over the course of the year, 36 people contacted us and contributed to the solidarity actions.
On December 16, 2021, Saint Nicholas visited the homeless together with volunteers to distribute food and 300 gifts.
In 2021, due to quarantine restrictions for Christmas and Easter, we could not, as usual, to host a large number of people in a building. However, we managed to organize 300 Christmas and 300 Easter packages with traditional dishes and distribute them in the downtown.
This year, for the first time, we distributed additional food on October 10, World Homeless People’s Day together with the Saint Egidius Community as part of the campaign initiated by Bishop Venedikt Aleksiychuk.
In 2021, community companions went on winter patrols with hot food 13 times, when severe frost prevailed.
In 2019, the construction project of the Sorting Center was launched. Quarantine significantly affected the warehouse construction process, slowing it down.
In 2021, we completed construction and plan to start operation of the building in 2022.
The project was implemented with the support of: “Emmaus-Europe”, International Emmaus Movement, “Emmaus-Haarzuilens” and the “Wild Geese” Foundation, “Emmaus-Helsinki” and individual donors.
Companions and employees of “Oselya” actively participate in trainings, spread the idea of the organization and enrich their own experience. This year, the community’s soccer team continued its training. A table tennis tournament was also held in the community. The companions went on an excursion to Tustan, Skolivski Beskydy and studied the outskirts of Lviv.
“Oselya” continued active cooperation with Ukrainian and foreign organizations. We have implemented a number of projects, in particular the Soup Kitchen – Charity Kitchen 2020 project from the Lviv Educational Foundation, “Homeless Quarantine”: informing, supporting homeless people with food, hygiene products, supported by the International Renaissance Foundation, the “Returning Home” project with the support of the Department of Social protection of the Humanitarian Policy Department of the Lviv City Council.
Representatives of “Oselya” participated as experts in conferences (“Serving people is a conscious dedication” in Odesa, “Forum of social enterprise and corporate social responsibility” in Kharkiv, “Forum of responsible people” in Lviv) and panel discussions.
Our Community took part in celebrating the World Day of the Homeless Person, which was initiated by Bishop Venedikt Aleksiychuk and organized by the Spiritual Revival Foundation. A large information campaign was carried out with the aim of familiarizing the public with the causes of homelessness and destroying a number of stereotypes related to this problem. A banquet was organized for entrepreneurs of Lviv, at which funds were collected to support homeless people in winter time.
A practical workshop “ZeroWaste of the city” was held in “Oselya”. The students of the Social Pedagogy / Social Work program of UCU were practicing in the community.
BUDGET
CAPITAL BUDGET
DONORS in 2021
PP “Oliyar” (TD “Mayola”), Dodo Socks, Leobit company, BERTA group, Shuvar Wholesale Market, Chocoboom, participants of the Miss Lviv contest and VA.mgzn magazine, Carlsberg Ukraine Brewery, Komel LLC , “Ortotop Prosthetic and Orthopedic Medical Center”, TVC “Lvivholod” LLC, “Svidky Svit” LLC, “Dynamo Invest” LLC, PNVP “Yar-step”, “Swichado” LLC, G.M. Gileta FOP, Auto Standard Group , TDV SK “Rik-Avtogarant”, LLC “Seeker”, POG RCC “Orientyr”, Rotary club “Lviv-zamok”, PJSC Concern Khlibprom, LLC “Zahidhlib”, LLC MBM Pole, family Mykhalyny Andriy and Oksana, Hrynia Natalya and Oleksandr, Nataliya Ozhanska, Mykhailo Fedyk, the family of Kavin Igor and Maryana, Muts Ivan, Vozniy Ya. V, Sivak Andriy and others.
PARTNERS in 2021
International Emmaus Movement; Lviv city council; Lviv city employment center; NGO “Golden youth of Vinnyk”; Emotion Holding “!FEST”; Center for registration and overnight stay of homeless citizens; media hub Your City, Galnet, Sykhiv Media, Zaxid.Net, Lviv.Media, Bishop Venedikt Aleksiychuk, Khrystyna Golovko and the band PIANO; Foundation of Spiritual Revival; Food bank; Ukrainian Educational Foundation; International Renaissance Charitable Foundation; PJSC “Concern Galnaftogaz” and the network of gas stations OKKO.
Parish communities of the Church of St. Archangel Michael, the Church of the Nativity of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Church of the Intercession of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Chapel of the Assumption of the Most Holy Theotokos, the Church of St. Clement the Pope, the Church of the Holy Martyrs of Faith, Hope, Love and their mother Sophia, the Church of the Exaltation of the Fair and Life-Giving Cross of the Lord.