Health Poverty
As well as helping addicts and giving refuge to victims of domestic violence, our crisis centres meet other needs. People who experience sudden ill health can be left unable to cope and face homelessness because of poverty and a lack of social help in Russia.
Until recently Isla’s life was manageable, she had a partner, friends, and an income from hairdressing. She used this skill to bless the women at the Women’s Crisis Centre with new haircuts.
“In an instant, everything collapsed.”
Leg pain, which was diagnosed too late, turned out to be a blood clot and her leg was amputated. No longer able to stand and cut hair, her income was gone. Friends were not forthcoming but surely she could rely on her partner?
At the start of their relationship, he was a loving man, but like 36.9% of Russian men, he was alcohol dependent. Now reliant on him for help, her sudden disability inconvenienced him. He ridiculed her changed appearance and humiliated her, saying she was no longer needed. In her vulnerable state, he beat her, then abandoned her.
Isla’s home is remote. Managing there takes hard physical work, especially during winter. Chopping wood for heat and shovelling snow is unavoidable. Suddenly finding herself disabled and alone meant physical tasks were unmanageable so her home froze and so did she.
The Women’s Crisis Centre came to Isla’s rescue and is caring for her. Once registered as disabled they hope to help her get a prosthetic leg so she can literally get back on her feet.
She’s not the only one. Sergey is being cared for at the Men’s Centre having been abandoned by his family after he had a stroke, and new mum Nastya at the WCC learned that her newborn Doroteya had stage 4 brain cancer with limited funds for treatment.
Without help from the centres, Isla would be stranded, alone and cold. Sergey would have been homeless, and Nastya would have had to accept the unthinkable, letting her daughter's illness take its course, unable to give her the right treatment and a chance at life.
Thank you to those who gave to our Prescription Appeal last Christmas or support our crisis centres and medical fund, this kind of giving is invaluable!