Charitable Foundation of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica. Our associates and partners

The St. Petersburg Demetrius of Thessalonica Foundation has existed since 2003. It is no coincidence that the fund bears the name of this holy great martyr, the patron saint of the Slavs, the "father-lover" of the Slavic peoples. Those who want to help their neighbors are united here. People working in this fund feel themselves not just employees, but, first of all, Christians who want to direct their efforts to do a good deed for everyone who is hurt, who has lost all hope, who has moved away from God. About who these people are, what they are, the director of the fund, Deacon Daniil Vasilevsky, tells.

It is not easier for a large family to live than an incomplete one

We try to help those who are in a variety of situations. First of all, these are large families and single mothers. We provide them with material assistance, and if it is possible to bring a person to God, we try to do this too, for example, we help baptize children. As a rule, a mother who finds herself in a difficult situation always remembers God and it is easy to help her come to church.

- What is meant by a single mother in this case? Is it a divorce situation, or aggravated life events?

Both. Sometimes the family is considered complete according to the documents, but the husband suffers from some kind of illness (for example, alcoholism or drug addiction), and requires care and attention. In this case, the wife is much harder than if he, the husband, was not there. And it is difficult to help a person in such a situation, on the one hand. But on the other hand, it is easier, because the heart responds to a rhinestone. The words "alcoholic" or "drug addict" sound derogatory, there is a squeamish feeling towards them. But these are our brothers, and often they are believers. There are cases when these ailments turn out to be temporary, a person is healed, and life in the family is getting better. But even if the family does not suffer from such deviations, the conditions of our life are such that it is not easier for a large family in our time to live. I would like to help such families and encourage others to help, if possible.

The average life of a homeless person is three years

The next direction in which we work is the homeless who find themselves on the street. This is where stereotypes come into play. It is often thought that if a person is on the street, then it is his own fault, he cannot be trusted. To destroy such a stereotype, it is enough to look into the eyes of such a person, and we will see in him a look both bright and kind, the look of a person who suffers a lot. The fact is that now on the street there are no longer the same people who themselves left the house, but often those who were kicked out of the house. There are many cases when they lose apartments, and this is not their fault. The first wave was when people really lost their apartments because they drank. Sometimes they were not even deceived, they simply did not manage to use the money to buy some other housing. There were many cases when elderly people lost their apartments, trusting those who promised them housing outside the city. They ended up in unsuitable for life premises. Now there are many cases when mentally retarded people are deprived of housing. Until a certain time, one of them lived with relatives, with mom, with dad, but after their death he remained unviable, no one is watching him. There are many such people on the street.

It has been established that a person lives on the street as a rule for only three years. After that, he falls ill, a lot of cases of frostbite. It often seems that the homeless look drunk. They really start drinking on the streets because they lack a basic sense of comfort. They are driven from everywhere, everywhere there is some kind of danger lurking for them. There are cases when law enforcement officials take away their documents.

- And what for to take away documents from the defenseless vagabond?

They tear them up, destroy them, because when a person has no documents, he is nobody. He can be beaten, killed. Thus, clean the city from the homeless.

- What is the age of those who were on the street?

Usually after 40. But there are also young people. These are not former homeless children. These are those who came to St. Petersburg to work, sometimes by announcement, sometimes by agreement. Again, they lose their documents, find themselves on the street, stop orienting themselves, and gradually get used to life on the street. Often such people are asked to help him raise money for a ticket. As a rule, we are all used to such requests, and we no longer believe them. But there are times when this is true and a person really needs to be sent. In such cases, we call up relatives, check where he is going, and send the person home. It is especially important to do this in winter, because a person can spend cold days outside, get frostbite on their feet and end up in the hospital. They will keep him in the hospital, perhaps amputate his limbs, and then leave him on the street. Now the question arose to purchase a bus for our organization in order to collect such people. In the future, we plan to open a rooming house.

It should be said that our foundation first of all tries to help the disabled, because, firstly, they are the most defenseless, and secondly, while a person walks, he is often not inclined to resort to our help, and hopes to find a job himself. On the one hand, we are trying to prolong a person's life, heal him bodily, on the other hand, have time to bring him to church so that the person dies with God.

Are they cruel people?

No, they are unfortunate people. Kind and sympathetic, like our grandparents, they will always say thank you. We help disabled people and we see that they are resigned people. They did not themselves leave the passions, but the passions had already left them. Therefore, it is easier for them to come to God.

“These people first of all need respect and love. If I start to respect and love them in advance, then they will start to respect themselves and remember that they are the image of God, they will want to change something in themselves,” says Natalya Gorkunenko about her wards

Diaconia.ru is starting a series of publications about the nominees organized by the Synodal Charity Department. The first material is about Natalya Gorkunenko, coordinator of the direction of assistance to the homeless of the St. Petersburg fund of Dimitry Solunsky. The winner of the competition will be awarded in September at the 5th All-Church Social Service Congress.

Thousands of people in St. Petersburg and the region have already received help and support from the St. Demetrius of Thessalonica Foundation. This fund has been helping the homeless in St. Petersburg and the Leningrad region for twelve years. Employees and volunteers do not just feed and distribute clothes, but also involve the poor in an active social life.

“We started with mobile food distribution points for homeless people. These were food points near metro stations, - says the coordinator of the direction of assistance to the homeless of the Dimitry Solunsky Foundation Natalia Gorkunenko. - Then came the mercy bus. And now there is a whole shelter, a workshop and a mini-farm. This is a very large and complex process.”

The Demetrius of Thessalonica Foundation began by organizing food points near metro stations, later a mercy bus appeared

Any person who finds himself in a difficult life situation can get a job in the "House of Diligence" and on a mini-farm. Natalia Gorkunenko emphasizes the role of volunteers. In a few years, the foundation's activities have been expanded to several separate areas: families with many children, pregnant women in a crisis situation, the elderly, orphans in orphanages, homeless people.

Any person who finds himself in a difficult life situation can get a job in the "House of industriousness" and on a mini-farm

Summer is a special time for volunteers. Thanks to the shelter, severe frosts are not terrible for the homeless, but in recent months, the poor have faced other problems. “It’s raining now, the clothes of the homeless are getting wet. Wounds begin to rot, - explains Natalya Gorkunenko. - Urgent dressings are needed. It is important not to start the wound."

At one time, the work of Natalia Gonkurenko was offered by the rector of the church of Mary Magdalene and the executive director of the Demetrius of Thessalonica Foundation, priest Daniel Vasilevsky. Now Natalia is in charge of a separate area of ​​assistance to the homeless.

“In my environment there were people close to me who drank a lot, so I knew firsthand about alcoholism and delirium tremens,” says Natalia. - You see that the person leaves the street, starts to work. He earns his first salary and begins to feel that he is also a person. These people first of all need respect and love. If I begin to respect and love them in advance, then they will begin to respect themselves and remember that they are the image of God, they will want to change something in themselves.

According to Natalia Gorkunenko, mobile kitchen points are also places where volunteers get to know those who are in a difficult situation. For volunteers, it is important not only to feed, but also to understand what is the reason for the difficult situation in which a person finds himself.

“You can immediately see the newcomers,” Natalya continues, “especially the young ones who have recently been on the street. We had such a couple in the spring. They wanted to move from Moscow, their money was stolen from them and they stayed at the station. Because of their maximalism, they decided not to disturb their parents. They began to live proudly on the street. After 3 weeks of their stay, they found out about the bus and came to us. In the future, we placed them in different hostels. The priests talked to them, they had conversations, and began to go to church. It is very good that at that time we had a separate room for the girls, where the “bride” began to live, and we settled the young man in the Shelter. They moved out a month later. Father Daniel persuaded the girl to go to her parents, since she was only 18 years old. And finish my studies. And the young man is still working in St. Petersburg.”

The Foundation employs several drivers, there are people who write articles - about ten people work in total. “There are 6 permanent people, those who have been helping for more than 2 years. There are even volunteer families. Of course, such work without God's help is simply unthinkable. After some time, our wards also understand this, ”Natalia shares her experience.

The winner of the All-Russian contest to help the homeless will be announced at the event, which will be held September 1-3 in Moscow.

The stories of other contest nominees will soon appear on the Diaconia.ru website.

Photo: press service of the Demetrius of Thessalonica Foundation

After the most gigantic Russia New Year's ice rink territory of the exhibition center "Ekaterinburg-EXPO”, Uralians are already difficult to surprise with anything. And yet, Yekaterinburg Foundation named after St. Demetrius of Thessalonica decided to try. In a day Defender of the Fatherland February 23 The Foundation decided to arrange a grandiose patriotic show. Fund representatives - Vyacheslav Palkin and Oleg Popov On the eve of the holiday, we visited the Yekaterinburg editorial office of Komsomolskaya Pravda. To tell more about the show at Expo and other upcoming events related to the Foundation.

-What are you going to surprise, and how will the holiday be organized?

Festive citywide events will begin at 11 am on February 23 and will last until the evening, - said Vyacheslav Palkin, deputy chairman of the fund for charitable projects. - This is a joint project of the St. Demetrius of Thessalonica Foundation and the international exhibition center "Ekaterinburg-EXPO". During daylight hours, free buses will run from the Airship shopping center to the exhibition center - a bus will depart approximately every 15 minutes. According to our calculations, 15,000 Yekaterinburg residents and guests of the city will take part in the celebration. The main sites will not be located on the street, which is understandable, but inside a large hangar. Three venues covering about 30,000 square meters will host concerts, mainly by amateur brigades. The performances of special forces soldiers are expected to be very spectacular. We specially invited strong men to this day. They will carry "non-traditional" weights - huge wheels from heavy trucks. For sure, the work of service dogs will cause a storm of delight among the kids. Children will let the dogs sniff their things, then hide them, and the dogs will look for the loss. It’s hard to list everything, but I’ll just say a few: there will be an exhibition of weapons, an extreme review, parkour, football on the sand, the first open Ural crossfit games among the teams of Yekaterinburg fitness clubs will take place. Decorate it all dancing band of the military district of Alexander Pavlov. Of course, at the entrance we will put several field kitchens with hot tasty porridge.

-All this is wonderful, but how to tie this citywide show to the name of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica?

With name Holy Great Martyr Demetrius of Thessalonica the very first pages of the Russian chronicle are connected, - said another deputy chairman of the Fund Oleg Popov. - Russian soldiers have always believed that they are under the special patronage of the Holy Great Martyr Demetrius. And in the old Russian epics, the Great Martyr Demetrius is depicted as Russian by origin. The memory of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica from time immemorial in Rus' has been associated with military exploits, patriotism and the defense of the Fatherland. No wonder the saint is depicted on icons as a warrior in armor, with a spear and a sword in his hands. So the upbringing of physical strength and military prowess in children is perfectly associated with Defender of the Fatherland Day, which we celebrate on February 23. The task is to restore this connection of times and open for the modern teenager his spiritual kinship with the Orthodox ancestors, who won the most difficult trials. The association of patriotic clubs "Druzhina" aims to familiarize young people with the Orthodox faith and the military-patriotic traditions of Russia

Interestingly, the kids most often come to our club on their own, they are not brought by adults. Children are interested in us, and they tell their friends about it, and they tell their friends. That's how they come to our clubs. Now there are eleven of them, more than 200 children are engaged in them. We have already talked on the radio "Komsomolskaya Pravda" about the construction of our club on Opalikhinskaya Street. And now I want to inform you again that a charity marathon will be held right at the celebration to raise funds for the repair and equipping of the children's military-patriotic club. The premises at 15 Opalikhinskaya Street have already been purchased, so it remains to equip it.

Well, separately, I would like to remind you that this year, already three days after the celebration of Defender of the Fatherland Day, our Foundation and Yekaterinburg diocese invites Yekaterinburg residents and guests of the city to Maslenitsa, - said Vyacheslav Palkin. - There will be, as usual, traditional Russian folk fun: “taking a snowy town”, fist fights “wall to wall”. True, this year there is not much snow, so it will be raked for the construction of a snow fortress from all over Kharitonovsky Park. Tractor drivers did not dare to go out onto the ice of the park lake, so we will rake by hand. The festivities will begin on February 26 at 11.30 am in Kharitonovsky Park (the park behind the Youth Theater). Come, it will be interesting as always.

St. Petersburg Foundation of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica has been working since February 2003. Several St. Petersburg companies became the founders of the fund. The President of the Foundation is D.P. Zaitsev, the Executive Director is Deacon Daniil Vasilevsky.

The Fund sets as its main goal the revival of the moral foundations of Russian society. It is no coincidence that it bears the name of the Holy Great Martyr Demetrius, since ancient times especially revered by the Slavic peoples. Those who want to help their neighbors are united here. People working in this fund feel themselves not just employees, but, first of all, Christians who want to direct their efforts to do a good deed for everyone who is hurt, who has lost all hope, who has moved away from God. Resuming domestic traditions of charity, the Fund helps children's hospitals, children from low-income families, orphanages and non-state shelters, large families and the homeless.

The main activities of the fund:

• help for the homeless "My neighbor"
• program to help sick children "Children in the hospital"
• program "Support for motherhood and childhood"
• abortion prevention program "Life".

Help for the homeless "My Neighbor"

Today, 54,000 homeless people live on the streets of the city. This number includes only persons registered at the City registration point for residents of the Russian Federation without a fixed place of residence. We assume that in reality their number reaches 100,000 people.

The army of the homeless is replenished, firstly, by persons deceived by apartment swindlers; secondly, non-residents who have lost their documents as a result of theft, deceit, robbery; thirdly, persons released from places of deprivation of liberty and deprived of their registration. Now on the street are not only people who themselves left home, but often those who were kicked out of the house. There are many cases when mentally retarded people lose their homes. Until a certain time, some of them lived with relatives, with their mother, with their father, and after their death, they were left alone, unattended. There are many such people on the street.

It has been established that a person lives on the street, as a rule, for only three years. After that, he falls ill, a lot of cases of frostbite. It often seems that the homeless look drunk. They really start drinking on the streets because they lack a basic sense of comfort. They are driven from everywhere, everywhere there is some kind of danger lurking for them. There are cases when law enforcement officials take away their documents.

It should be said that our foundation, first of all, tries to help homeless people with disabilities, because, firstly, they are the most defenseless, and secondly, while a person walks, he is often not inclined to resort to our help, and hopes to find a job himself. On the one hand, we are trying to prolong a person's life, heal him bodily, on the other hand, have time to bring him to church so that the person dies with God.

The fund's assistance to the homeless consists of the following sequence of actions:

• finding a homeless person on the street;
• sanitization (if required);
• transport to the hospital (if medical assistance is required);
• guardianship of the patient during his stay in the hospital (provide medicines, food, pick up the patient at discharge - before he is on the street);
• registration at the City registration point for citizens of the Russian Federation without a fixed place of residence;
• search for a shelter in one of the few public organizations or sending to the place of the last registration;
• providing the homeless with food, warm clothes;
• carrying out expensive treatment (operations).

In the evenings, the Foundation's bus travels around the city and delivers food for the homeless. A young priest, Yakov Gulyako, also rides on the bus, baptizing and giving communion to those who wish.

The most serious problem faced by the fund's employees is the scarcity of shelters for the homeless in our city. In fact, this is the Nochlezhka shelter and several other city institutions with a small number of places. The number of homeless people far exceeds the number of places where they can be placed. In addition, in order to place a homeless person in a shelter, it is necessary that he has a complete set of documents in his hands, which he usually does not have.

If this person is sick, then he can be arranged for treatment in a city medical institution. There he can be treated according to the rules of compulsory medical insurance for 14 days. Then the hospital is forced to discharge him, the homeless man in a sick state again finds himself on the street. This often happens after surgery. Many homeless people end up in the hospital with frostbite, limbs are amputated in the hospital, and then the hospital, by law, is forced to discharge such a person. Such a cripple is thrown into the street.

The Foundation plans to organize a small shelter for the homeless, where they can find shelter, receive material, medical, psychological and spiritual assistance. Now we are looking for a suitable house or plot in the Leningrad region, although the funds for this project have not yet been collected.

The Foundation also plans to launch a larger overnight bus for food and clothing by the winter. During frosts, the homeless will be able to spend the night in this bus, avoiding frostbite. The same bus will provide sanitary and medical assistance to the needy homeless.

Help program for sick children "Children in the hospital"

Since 2004, the foundation has been helping the Children's City Hospital No. 2 of St. Mary Magdalene. Here we started working with the hospital staff: several times we took doctors on pilgrimage trips to Fr. Valaam and the Pskov-Caves Monastery, arranged concerts of the choir of the Valaam Monastery, timed to coincide with church holidays. Congratulating the children in the hospital on Christmas and Easter holidays, they also congratulated the children of the employees. Friendship with this hospital and its head physician Avtandil Georgievich Mikava began when the foundation donated a hemodialysis machine to it. In 2005-2006, on the territory of the hospital, with the financial support of the St. Demetrius, the church of St. Mary Magdalene. The consecration of a small rank took place on May 23, 2007.

An important area of ​​assistance to children is the diagnosis of deafness among newborns. Trying to cure our children of rhinitis and otitis, we met a wonderful doctor, Professor Sergei Grigoryevich Zhuravsky, whose scientific interests include examining newborns for deafness.

As modern studies in the field of pediatric audiology show, the prevalence of early childhood pre-speech deafness is 1 per 1000-1500 children under the age of one year in Russia, and in St. Petersburg this figure exceeds the average data for unknown reasons and is 1 per 850-1000 people.

The urgency of the problem is due to the fact that the vast majority of pediatric patients diagnosed with congenital hearing loss outside large metropolitan areas (Moscow and St. Petersburg) do not receive timely qualified medical care. This is due to insufficient instrumental and diagnostic base.

In a newborn child, the place in the brain responsible for the formation of hearing develops very quickly, in the first 1-1.5 years of life. It is necessary to make a diagnosis in time, since late diagnosis (after one year) of congenital deafness leads to a loss of speech hearing and a mental delay that is irreparable for the further development of the child. The most optimal option is the diagnosis of hearing impairment in a child up to 6-8 months, while the auditory cortex of the brain has not yet been formed. Prevention of deafness, which is carried out after a timely diagnosis of hearing, is solved with the help of a hearing aid.

The problem is that often families facing the problem of hearing loss in a child are poor. As a rule, the purchase of a hearing aid (it costs from 5 to 15 thousand rubles - depending on the required power) is an unsolvable task for them. City and regional children's audiology centers have extremely limited opportunities to purchase hearing aids or do not have them at all. The problem of prevention, treatment and rehabilitation of hearing loss is especially acute in rural areas of the North-West region, where the standard of living is much inferior to the urban one. It should also be noted that people with purely Slavic roots are more likely to have a deaf child than those in mixed marriages.

Foundation of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica and the Laboratory of Hearing and Speech of the Research Center of St. Petersburg State Medical University. acad. I.P. Pavlova developed the program "Prevention of early childhood deafness". The program involves the diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation of hearing loss in newborn children in the North-West region of the Russian Federation.

To implement the program, the Foundation is looking for funds to purchase equipment for objective hearing diagnostics in newborns and hearing aids for low-income families, as well as to organize field examinations.

It is planned to travel to Pskov, Velikiye Luki and a boarding school for the deaf and hard of hearing in the village. Pytalovo, Pskov region (in Pytalovo, a boarding school of 120 people for deaf children from all over the North-West will be examined, as well as the Pskov regional children's hospital). It is also planned to conduct a survey in this area among deaf children in order to establish a clear diagnosis, provide medical advice and provide an opportunity for the surveyed to plan their future lives (for example, obtaining information about the health of future children). The group of researchers will include a physician, two teachers, a defectologist-speech therapist and a psychologist. In addition to the audiological diagnosis of hearing loss among children, it is planned to carry out special work by a psychologist and a social pedagogue with children and parents, related to assistance in the further integration of children into society.

Program "Support for motherhood and childhood"

The percentage of large families in our country today is small. But these families are in a rather difficult situation, primarily from a material point of view. Too small allowances for children, not comparable with the subsistence minimum, the lack of any assistance from the state put families with many children on the brink of survival. Often families with many children are incomplete; as a rule, this is a mother with children. In many cases, this is due to the death of the breadwinner. There are cases when the head of the family leaves his relatives for various reasons. The mother, left with the children, only has enough strength to take care of them. As a rule, there is no strength left to earn material resources for the maintenance of the family, and the family finds itself in a very difficult situation.

The Foundation provides support to large families in several areas. The fund has a permanent helpline (so far it is a mobile phone). The phone works seven days a week. It has three people on duty. In the first minutes of communication, the consultant finds out the name, age and occupation of the caller in order to speak in a language understandable to the woman. Further, the fund employee finds out the problems of the caller, and depending on them, the fund provides assistance. This includes monthly financial assistance to families in need, and rental housing if the family is on the street. If necessary, the fund, if possible, finances the treatment of children, helps with tuition fees, pays for children's sanatorium vouchers, etc.

Psychological assistance is also provided to ward mothers. Sometimes it is enough to talk to a person, and he softens, understands that he is not alone.

The program has 5 permanent employees and several volunteers. In general, under this program, the foundation patronizes about 40 families. Some families have been receiving assistance since 2002. The amount of monthly assistance is not very high - 2000-5000 rubles.

In the future, the foundation plans to develop support for large families in several areas:

• Expansion of the number of large families who will be provided with material and other assistance;
• Joint trips of families on tourist trips organized by the foundation. It will also bring people together so that they can support each other;
• Assistance in finding employment for parents to enable the family to earn a livelihood.

Abortion prevention program "Life"

Over the past 15 years, Russia has experienced an almost two-fold decline in the birth rate - now it is one of the lowest in Europe. According to the forecast of the State Statistics Committee, the population of our country at the beginning of 2011 will be 138.2 million people, and by 2050 only 75 to 100 million people will live in Russia, most of whom will be pensioners.

One factor in the decline in the birth rate is the high number of abortions. Every day in Russia 13,000 women have abortions! Very often, pregnant women decide to do this, being in a crisis situation, left alone with their problem. To help them in such a situation to save the life of not only themselves, but also the unborn child is one of the Fund's tasks.

Since 2006, the Fund's hotline has been constantly operating. The helpline is staffed by qualified psychologists and social workers. They receive from 5 to 20 calls per month. During the year, about 80 people turned to the helpline. At first glance, not much, but all those who apply are in really crisis situations. A woman needs to be convinced that there is a way out of any situation, that she is not alone, and that there are people who are ready to help her. A telephone conversation lasts from two minutes to an hour and a half, depending on the situation. As a rule, after a telephone conversation, a woman is invited for a personal meeting. But there are times when a phone call is enough.

As a rule, after a personal acquaintance and collection of the necessary documents, the callers become temporary or permanent wards of the fund. Here they are provided not only moral, but also material assistance, as well as spiritual nourishment. The fund's employees help to solve not only the social problems of the wards, but also talk about God. And how joyful it is when you see the results, the fruits of your work!

The Abortion Prevention program is not limited to the maternity crisis line. In antenatal clinics, employees of the Foundation disseminate information about the psychological and physiological consequences of abortion, leave booklets with a crisis telephone number. Information is distributed in the form of leaflets, stickers, literature, video and audio products. Fifteen distributors work with 25 antenatal clinics. Video monitors are installed in two of them, where films are shown: "The Miracle of Life", "Who Rocks the Cradle", "Sleep, My Joy, Sleep" and others. These films tell about the intrauterine development of a child, about the consequences of an abortion, about traditional family values. And those women who come to the consultation and wait for their turn can perceive this useful information. It is necessary that a woman realize that by having an abortion, she becomes the murderer of her own child. The more anti-abortion information spreads, the more children can be saved.

Universities of the city did not go unnoticed either. An educational video course "Support for the Family, Motherhood and Childhood" has been prepared for them, showing videos about Christian marriage, the joys of motherhood. Conducting one educational video course at the University. Herzen led to a significant increase in the number of calls to the helpline.

Unfortunately, the fund's employees, when distributing information about abortion in the form of leaflets, booklets, and also showing films on this topic on video monitors in antenatal clinics, often face rebuff or even opposition from the medical staff of antenatal clinics.

The foundation plans several directions for the development of work on the prevention of abortion:

• Conducting regular educational video courses in the universities of the city;
• Expansion of the number of women's and youth consultations, where leaflets and booklets will be distributed, urging not to have an abortion;
• Social advertising on the streets of the city on the topic of abortion prevention;
• Installation of information stands in antenatal clinics.

Foundation of St. Demetrius of Thessalonica takes part in international conferences on the topic of anti-abortion activities, in the city-wide conference of obstetricians of the city, in Moscow round tables on the topic of abortion prevention. In the near future, the Foundation plans to participate in Pokrovsky Readings.

Deacon Daniel Vasilevsky