Charity Hospital was founded 4 years ago.
On June 26th, a few medical volunteers gathered together in a Saint-Petersburg cafe, joined by a very simple idea: “Nobody should feel cold, hunger, and pain!”. We discussed health issues homeless people were faced with. We discussed how we could effectively help them on the streets, where to get medicines and money for them, and where to reach homeless people. We were pioneers of street medicine in Saint-Petersburg, making small steps and making mistakes, trying to make something of our own while adapting foreign recommendations on helping people in trouble. Our goal was that every person, despite the social status, documents, or a roof over one’s head could get basic medical help and be healthy.
Since then, our Charity Hospital, or “Bolnichka”, as it is gently called by many people, has turned into a non-governmental organization. The list of medical procedures for homeless people has grown, and the total number of medical consultations in all these years reached the mark of 20 thousand. Dozens of lives saved, when an ambulance was called promptly; hundreds of those, whose wounds healed; those, who did not acquire COVID-19 or influenza after our outreach vaccination campaigns; those who learned of their positive HIV-status and started getting treatment immediately… Glasses, crutches and walking sticks, warm clothes and heated insoles, sleeping bags and hygiene products – this is just a small list of everything we give out to our patients during our shifts.
We want to thank everyone for supporting us all these years! We want to thank everyone who treated people under the light of a headlamp, everyone who helped with our remote tasks, everyone who donated for medicines. We want to thank our partners from other NGOs and state institutions, with whom we worked shoulder-to-shoulder helping homeless people on the streets to gain shelter and health.
We have prepared our first public annual report for 2021 for this special day. We need to report back to you, be open and tell about the results of our work and our plans.
You can congratulate us on this event on the link https://charityhospital.ru/donate/ by donating. You can also become our volunteer or help us by bringing medicines and glasses.
