As a member of Emmaus International, each year the Abbé Pierre Foundation funds a whole host of international solidarity projects. In 2015, the Foundation joined forces with Emmaus International to fund projects aimed at improving the accommodation offered by Emmaus associations on 4 continents. This week, we head to Ukraine.
Since 1992, the Abbé Pierre Foundation for the Housing of the Underprivileged has worked across France, continuing Abbé Pierre’s struggle to ensure access to decent housing for all. It provides accommodation and guidance to people in difficulty and calls upon policy-makers to shoulder their responsibilities regarding access to housing. Every year, the Foundation also earmarks a significant portion of its budget to the funding of international projects.
In 2015, the Abbé Pierre Foundation and Emmaus International worked together to identify and fund projects aimed at improving the accommodation offered by Emmaus associations in Africa, America, Asia and Europe.
EUROPE, Ukraine
> Modernising and improving living conditions in community houses
Oselya helps people who are socially excluded, homeless, handicapped or dealing with drug addiction, and encourages them to take up new activities and embrace community living. The community is home to 25 companions who live and work together and coordinate solidarity initiatives. They generate their income through bric-à-brac sales and by collecting old clothes; an activity made possible thanks to installation of clothes banks in the town.
The community’s companions are spread across its 3 sites, all of which are plagued by multiple problems: buildings whose foundations have been laid on moor soils, temperamental water supply and sewage systems, unreliable gas heating due to constant price increases and volatile relations with Russia, poor insulation, no cellar for the storage vegetables, etc.
The funding received from the Abbé Pierre Foundation will enable the modernisation of the community’s facilities in order to improve companions’ living conditions. The association will begin work to improve the buildings’ insulation, develop an effective heating system and facilitate access to high-quality water.
This work will enable the community to make savings, which in turn will be invested in its economic activities. Furthermore, better storage of produce will avoid waste. The community hopes that together, these improvements will see its income increase.
Photos : Yurko Dyachyshyn
