A temporary accommodation center for homeless people has opened in Vitebsk

November 2, Vitebsk / Olga Bogacheva - BELTA /. The first Temporary (Night) Stay Center for Homeless People in the Vitebsk region has opened in Vitebsk, a BELTA correspondent reports. The new facility, designed to accommodate 36 people at a time, is located in a reconstructed former kindergarten building on Gagarin Street. Over Br1.2 billion was allocated for its creation. The international charitable public association "Sofia" provided assistance in purchasing beds for the residents and steam equipment for cleaning clothes. The center's staff will consist of 11 employees, six of whom have already been hired. The first residents of the temporary stay center for homeless people were six individuals. Here, they can not only spend the night and undergo medical examinations but also receive assistance in socialization and re-establishing lost ties with relatives. Those in need are helped to restore lost documents, find employment, and the disabled are assisted in being placed in nursing homes and receiving pensions. The chairman of the Vitebsk City Executive Committee, Viktor Nikolaikin, called the opening of this center an important and significant event for the city. "People become homeless for various reasons. By taking advantage of the support provided here, they get a chance to start their lives anew," he is confident. As noted in a conversation with a BELTA correspondent, the head of the Internal Affairs Directorate of the Vitebsk Regional Executive Committee, Alexander Naydenko, stated that a similar center is planned to open in Orsha by the end of the year, and in Novopolotsk at the beginning of 2011. He emphasized that there is a need for this, noting that 163 homeless people were registered in the Vitebsk region in one and a half months, including 86 in the regional center. -0-