Our goal is to enable orphanages to meet basic needs, and to promote comprehensive programs that help orphans grow to be healthy and independent adults.
Orphanage for children with special needs in Shatura, Moscow Region
The Orphanage of Shatura provides 1st to 9th grade education to 182 students with special needs. Living conditions at the school had not been improved since its establishment in the 1960s. In 2017, RCWS sponsored the installation of 27 new windows in the classrooms and children’s bedrooms in the orphanage. In 2018, RCWS sponsored the replacement of 36 remaining old windows with new, insulated windows, totaling $11,919. We are thrilled that during this cold winter the small residents at the Orphanage in Shatura are living and studying in a much warmer and healthier environment because of the new windows.
In 2019, RCWS provided funding in the amount of $15,111 to equip the school at the orphanage with computers and multi-media equipment to help children with special needs to learn and better comprehend information through visual elements.
In September 2020, RCWS awarded $7,056 to the Orphanage in Shatura to renovate and upgrade 3 bathrooms, making them more accessible and comfortable for children with disabilities, as well as meet the requirements of the Department of Sanitation.
Over 30% of children at the Shatura Orphanage require wheelchairs to move around. The Orphanage needed assistance to expand its doorways and install the new doors, allowing children in the wheelchairs to move freely in the facility, attend classes and interact with other children. In 2021, RCWS allocated $10,429 to install 28 doors and 18 doorways to better accommodate the children with special needs at the Shatura Orphanage.
In addition to financial support, every year starting December 2016, the RCWS Moscow team and volunteers have been delivering Christmas gifts to children living at the Orphanage in Shatura.
Pervomaiski Orphanage for children with special needs, Kostroma region
Pervomaiski the only orphanage in the Kostroma region for children with special needs and currently houses and provides education to 83 children ages 4 to 18. The children there have serious mental and/or physical disabilities so it is the objective of the orphanage to assist with social adaptation, to help the children to have a more positive attitude and outlook on life, provide medical care, and to engage the children in sports and other activities.
In 2018 a total of 31 windows were replaced thanks to the RCWS support, which will improve insulation, making the living facilities warmer and healthier for children.
In 2019, RCWS provided $11,503 to fund the complete renovation of the orphanage’s living facilities including putting down new floors and repainting walls and ceilings.
Due to COVID-19 outbreak, the orphanage required funding to purchase the disinfectants and personal protective equipment to prevent the spread of coronavirus (3 caregivers got infected with COVID-19 but thanks to the proactive rules and guidelines, the virus did not spread to the children). In 2020, RCWS provided $3,312 towards the requested protective equipment to stop the spread of COVID-19.
In 2021, RCWS awarded $8,130 to the Orphanage to install 26 new windows.
Krasnogorodsky Orphanage, Pskov Region
The Krasnogorodsky Orphanage, established in 1988, currently houses 103 children between the ages of 6 and 20 with various health issues. The city center of Pskov is located almost 160 kilometers from the orphanage. In the past RCWS sponsored a new car for the orphanage to drive the children to the city hospital for treatment, check-ups and prophylactic procedures.
In 2018, RCWS provided funds ($7,062) to establish the Vocational Training Center to provide professional job training to the students, improve carpentry and plaster-painting workshops by acquiring vocational training equipment and supplies to motivate students. This Center helps to prepare students to live independently and teaches them carpentry and painting/plastering skills.
In 2021, RCWS provided $5,220 towards the project "Home Kitchen" to teach children independent living skills, how to cook and calculate food budget, introduce to a profession of a chef as a possible future trade, and basics of healthy eating. RCWS assistance was allocated to purchase furniture, appliances and consumables for equipping the kitchen and dining room at the Orphanage.
Potma Orphanage for children with special needs, Mordovia
In 2018 RCWS received a request for help from the Potma Orphanage for children with severe disabilities. Lost in the woods of Mordovia, the Orphanage needed to upgrade their territory and roads near the facility to allow kids to go outdoors in their wheel-chairs. This renovation was completed in the fall of 2018 and included the construction of pedestrian roads, a parking area, the greening of the territory, and upgrading the recreational areas. We are happy to report that thanks to the RCWS and our donors’ support ($10,000 in direct donations) the territory outside the Potma Orphanage has become much more accessible for the children who can now enjoy the fresh air, moving and playing outside.
The orphanage urgently needed to replace its roof which leaked and let cold air into the building. In 2019, RCWS provided $20,000 to replace the roof before the onset of winter.
In 2020, RCWS awarded $17,340 to the orphanage to build an outdoor playground and a summer house to allow children spend more time outside, which will have multiple health benefits. With a cozy place outdoors, constantly bedridden children with special needs would be able to enjoy fresh air throughout the year. In addition, the RCWS funding will cover the requested protective gear, non-contact thermometers and disinfectants to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
In 2021, RCWS granted $18,955 to the Orphanage towards the exterior façade insulation and repairs. The Orphanage building’s walls had multiple defects allowing the cold air to enter the building facilities during the cold winter months.
Opochka Specialized Orphanage, Pskov Region
The RCWS recently helped the Opochka Specialized Orphanage in Pskov acquire agricultural equipment to increase the yield of the orphanage’s garden and empower the 98 students living on the grounds with practical skills. Most of the children at the orphanage have suffered from a lack of love, family, warmth and recognition and Opochka offers them a family-like atmosphere that forges camaraderie amongst the teachers and children.
In 2019, RCWS provided $7,600 to Opochka Orphanage to help fund “Steps to a future profession,” a project that aims to create opportunities for children’s vocational training and socialization. RCWS’s grant allows the orphanage to obtain tools and equipment crucial for creating the vocational training workshops that will prepare children for future independent life, help them find employment, and teach them to provide for themselves and their future families.
In 2021, RCWS allocated $6,730 towards the project "Practice-oriented platform" to improve children’s communication and computer skills, equip the classroom with multifunctional furniture and digital equipment to facilitate remote learning during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. RCWS aid covered ergonomic modular furniture helping to transform the room for various tasks, an interactive whiteboard, a projector and a computer to navigate the online education.
Pytalovo Specialized Ophanage/Center for Special Education #2, Pskov Region
The Pytalovo Specialized Orphanage currently houses 57 children, ages 4 to 19, who are deaf or have hearing impairments of varying degrees that warrant specialized approaches with regard to their education and development. The RCWS has supported the orphanage since 2006, sponsoring the specialized equipment to improve children's education, their speech and pronunciation, spark their motivation to study and offer corrective education and development.
Recently, the orphanage requested assistance to purchase a speech therapy system “Speech Kaleidoscope” to improve children’s ability to cover the school program, better communicate and adapt. The “Speech Kaleidoscope” equipment will be installed in the speech therapy room and used in individual sessions with children who are deaf or have hearing loss. In addition to children at the orphanage/ Center for Special Education #2, at least 50 other children from the region who are hearing impaired will use the “Speech Kaleidoscope”. in 2020, RCWS approved $6,035 towards the "Speech Kaleidoscope" equipment.
Dudinsk Orphanage, Taymyr Island, Krasnoyarsk region
It is the northernmost orphanage in Russia, serving orphans and children left without parental care. In 2021, RCWS provided $7,867 to purchase 10 new computers and multimedia equipment to facilitate online education programs.
Orphanage “Pechora Center Assisting Children Left without Parental Care”, Pskov Region
In 2021, RCWS provided $5,322 to help equip the training apartment “My Home”. At the training apartment children will learn how to live in a household, how to cook and use appliances, host their guests, manage their time, gain social skills, etc. Teachers monitor the students living at the training apartment.
Orphanage “Velikie Luki Center Assisting Children Left without Parental Care”, Pskov Region
In 2021, RCWS awarded $5,375 towards the “Agricultural Basic Skills” project at the Orphanage to prepare children for independent life in rural areas. Currently, 90% of the students at the Orphanage are teenagers, who upon graduation will live in the rural area.
Pushkinogorodsky Orphanage, Pskov Region
The Pushkinogorodsky Orphanage is the only institution in the Pskov region that offers treatment to children who have been exposed to tuberculosis.
In 2017, RCWS sponsored the art workshops and vocational training programs to encourage creativity and learn professional skills among 143 children residing at the Pushkingorodsky orphanage.
Bobrovsky Orphanage for Children with Special Needs, Pskov Region
Bobrovsky Orphanage for children with special needs currently houses 70 children between the ages of 4 to 19. Only 3% of children at the Bobrovsky Orphanage are visited by their parents twice a year.
RCWS supported the orphanage since 2007. For example, in 2009 RCWS awarded $7,193 towards the project “Clean Water”, improving the quality of water at the Bobrovsky Orphanage facility.
Majority of the children at the orphanage have serious speech impairment issues, require constant supervision and care, and often are unable to live independently. The Orphanage requested funding to create a “Training Apartment” to teach children independent living skills, how to cook, proper hygiene, cleaning the apartment, accepted norms of behavior, social adaptation, etc. The space will include a foyer, living room, kitchen, art workshop room, and a bathroom. All the rooms have been renovated. In 2020, RCWS provided $6,000 towards the furniture and necessary equipment to have the project “Training Apartment” up and running.
Vologda Center to assist orphaned children, Vologda Region
The Vologda Center main areas of activity include the housing and upbringing of orphaned children and children left without parental care; placing children into foster families; training programs for future foster parents; reintegration work with the child’s biological family.
In 2019, RCWS provided funding in the amount of $10,000 to cover the cost of replacing 35 old windows in the center’s two buildings in order to improve living conditions for the 72 children who live there.
The Nikolo-Solbinsky Orphanage (Solba) is a unique facility that provides girls with food, clothes and medical treatment as well as a progressive secondary education with an emphasis on health and the arts. Currently, 95 girls (from 6 months to 18 years of age) reside at the Solba Orphanage and this number continues to grow. The Solba, whose mission is to inspire and educate a rising generation of women to be spiritually and physically healthy and contribute to society, has governmental accreditation and is widely admired for its extensive arts program. The orphanage is located in the woods, a healthy environment where the girls eat naturally grown food supplied by Solba’s own farm.
RCWS has been supporting the Solba Orphanage since 2010. In 2015, RCWS awarded a grant for the purchase of art supplies, teaching materials, as well as funds to cover the orphanage’s heating and electricity costs. In 2016, RCWS awarded a grant to cover the costs of heat, electricity, boiler maintenance and office equipment. In 2017, RCWS sponsored the embroidery and sewing equipment allowing the Solba College to launch the sewing department. Currently, over 300 children are enrolled at the Solba College. Among the students are orphans that reside at Solba and children from low income families from local villages.
The objective of the Solba College is to provide their students with a profession and skills set that would allow them to have a job and a source of income in the future. Sewing and embroidery are very popular trade professions in Russia’s rural areas. In addition to college major, the sewing and embroidery equipment would allow to make clothing for the children at Solba, costumes for their theater and children’s choir. It would generate additional earned income from sales of ordered clothes and embroidery pieces to cover some of the Solba Orphanage on-going expenses (food, heating, etc).
In 2019, RCWS provided two grants to Solba totaling $31,500 to fund electricity, gas, art supplies, books, and embroidery equipment including supplies and specialized computer software. The students were trained in the computer-aided design process and are now able to design unique embroidered pieces that they can sell to generate income to support the orphanage.
In response to the orphanage SOS request, in early 2020 RCWS provided an emergency assistance ($15,000) to cover Solba’s electricity and heating expenses to avoid the termination of services during winter due to accumulated debt.
