What’s the problem?
Every year in St Petersburg between 300 and 400 young people leave the orphanage system to fend for themselves. Most are totally unprepared, even those leaving in their early twenties. During their time in institutions they are not allowed to take decisions or responsibility, so they are very immature when they leave. On leaving, care-leavers face discrimination in education, employment and housing which contributes to their social exclusion. Sadly, many are unable to cope in these circumstances, and recent research found that the death of a classmate was not an uncommon experience for many care-leavers. Too often the cycle repeats itself when ophanage leavers themselves have children. It is a tragedy that so many long for a family, and yet find it difficult to bond with their children without help.
How do we help?
Some organisations give generous hand-outs to orphanage leavers. We believe that the best present we can give them is respect, understanding, and help to become successful adults, able to earn their own living and integrate into society. We sponsor the Sunflower Centre to support around 60 orphanage leavers in person. A further 60-70 receive online support. The most troubled will be able to access individual counselling. The others will meet weekly as a group for counselling sessions, work to overcome their challenges. We also fund outings to help them widen their horizons and integrate into society, and summer camps for those willing and able to work more intensively. It takes time to undo the damage of a lost childhood, but we regularly celebrate the small and large steps our young people make towards independence.
We also helped establish a support group for parents who grew up in orphanages and their children. This has successful shown that you can teach parents how to bond with their children, strengthen their relationships and improve the life-chances of all members of the family. The groups now run independently, while St Gregory’s still funds summer camps for families – an opportunity to work intensively on strengthening their relationships.
