Kyiv charities help homeless people survive quarantine 

For most of us, following quarantine measures is easy: stay home, wash your hands and reduce social contacts.

But for homeless people, these rules are nearly impossible to obey. 

When Ukrainian Svetlana Chernysh first heard about the quarantine in Kyiv back in March, she didn’t realize what an impact the newly-imposed measures could have on her life. 

Chernysh, 65, has been homeless for nearly four years. For her, living on the streets has never been as tough as it is now during the quarantine.

“We can’t go anywhere, everything is closed. No part-time jobs and almost no food, only from volunteers,” Chernysh says. “We can’t gather in groups and simply sit on the streets as before. So we stroll around the city, looking for some shelters. And we are afraid of the virus.” 

To prevent the spread of COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, the Ukrainian authorities have imposed a quarantine in the country, shutting down all public transport for non-essential workers and closing restaurants, night clubs, gyms, beauty salons and shopping malls. Most offices have shut down, with employees either working remotely or not at all. 

Thousands of homeless people all around Kyiv were left with no sources of income, no food and drinking water and, most importantly, no protection from the coronavirus. 

“It is extremely difficult now,” Chernysh says. 

Luckily, most Kyiv charities and non-governmental organizations supporting the homeless decided to continue their work to help those in need. 

Borys Piddubnyi, co-founder of the Pomogi Bezdomnomy initiative (Help the Homeless in English), says that the lives of people living on the streets have changed for the worse in less than four weeks. His organization has been helping homeless people in the capital since 2016 by providing them with food, self-care supplies and clothing.

“Homeless people are now on the edge of survival,” Piddubnyi says. “And it’s our duty to help them.” 

Impact 

In 2016, Chernysh left her home in Luhansk Oblast, some 845 kilometers southeast of Kyiv. She had lost everything. 

Her son had been diagnosed with brain cancer, and she devoted her life to support him during treatment. “He died about two years ago,” Chernysh says.

To make matters worse, Chernysh doesn’t have a home to return to. Her hometown, the industrial city of Alchevsk, is now occupied by Russia. She still has relatives there, but prefers to stay homeless in Kyiv. “At least I can find some part-time jobs here and earn a bit of money,” Chernysh says. 

At least, that was before the quarantine. Now jobs are scarce and she has no money to send to her grandchildren living with relatives in Luhansk Oblast.

Home now for Chernysh is the local Social Care House, located on Suzdalska Street in Kyiv. It is a state social care unit that can host up 150 homeless people. While the number of homeless people in the capital is unknown, local charities estimate it varies from 5,000 to 20,000 people.

A man wearing a protective mask walks by a homeless man in Kyiv on April 10, 2020. (Oleg Petrasiuk)

The state organization allows the homeless to come at 6 p.m., have a modest dinner (usually porridge), and stay the night until 8 a.m. But one night at the center costs Hr 10 (nearly $0.37) — an unmanageable price for many homeless people in Ukraine. 

“There are 18 of us in one room, but it’s fine. I got used to it,” Chernysh says. 

She says the quarantine has left them with no chance to find food, earn money and rest. 

Railways, churches and recycling centers are largely closed due to the quarantine. Begging is not particularly helpful with so few people on the streets. And now the police regularly prevent the homeless from congregating.

“It’s all gone now,” Chernysh says. 

Additionally, the homeless have a high risk of being infected with COVID-19. They cannot self-isolate, keep social distance and wash their hands frequently. They have no protective gear and, due to poor nutrition, many have weakened immune systems.

“If one of us gets infected, there is no escape,” Chernysh says.  

Help on the way

Kyiv charities are helping. A month before the quarantine began, Kyiv charity flea market Kurazh announced that, for the entire year, they will support the homeless. They started cooperating with the charity project Suka Zhizn (“Life’s a bitch” in English). 

According to founder Alyona Gudkova, Kurazh this year had planned to launch a special online system for registering the homeless and provide them with food, clothing, first aid, and psychological care.

Then the coronavirus hit.

“Although our plans for the year haven’t changed, we need to help the homeless survive the quarantine first,” Gudkova says. 

On April 3, Suka Zhizn and Kurazh announced a campaign to purchase 1,000 aid packages, which include food and protective gear. The price for one package is nearly Hr 150 (over $5). Ten hours later, they had over Hr 359,000 ($13,200) for 2,000 aid packages.

“That inspired me a lot,” Gudkova says. “It feels like people have the urge to help others now.”

The speed with which they raised the money makes her think that due to “this worldwide feeling of anxiety, people are becoming kinder and changing their social habits.”

A homeless man poses for a photograph holding a sign that says, “Careful, coronavirus,” after he received an aid package from charity project Suka Zhizn in Kyiv on March 21, 2020.

Starting April 13, volunteers in protective suits and masks will deliver aid packages to homeless people in several Kyiv neighborhoods every weekday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. One package will include enough food and drinking water for two or three days.

New measures

Before the quarantine began, Pomogi Bezdomnomy (“Help for Homeless”), co-founded by Piddubnyi and his wife, organized lunches for the homeless every Saturday in Kyiv’s Podil neighborhood. Volunteers also provided medical assistance and clothing. About 200 people were helped each weekend.

Now, however, the rules have changed. With gatherings of more than two people banned, charities have few options. Still, Piddubnyi says they will continue to provide the homeless with food. They will just gather fewer people and temporarily stop providing clothing to reduce the size of the lines.

On March 21, for example, volunteers distributed 100 lunches to homeless people in seven minutes. “They don’t have many options for food now, so we will keep doing it,” Piddubnyi says.

Piddnubny says his organization is trying to get in touch with Kyiv authorities to discuss the situation. “Organizations that protect the homeless should not be afraid that they will be arrested by the police or fined,” Piddubnyi says. 

Another Kyiv charity, Dim Myloserdia (“House of Mercy”) is also looking for ways to find shelters. 

The organization already supports four private shelters around Kyiv where 22 people live. According to its founder, Oleksiy Kuchapin, elderly and homeless people with disabilities are at the highest risk now. 

“When the quarantine started, we decided to open additional shelters for this period,” Kuchapin says. 

They have already rented a house outside Kyiv that can house 12 people. They are now looking to rent a second.

“There’s nobody who can help them but us,” Kuchapin says. 

How you can help

Piddubnyi hopes the public understands how difficult the current situation is for the homeless.

“Whenever one sees a homeless person, do not turn away,” Piddubnyi says. “Buy some canned goods or ready-to-eat food and leave it for them.”

Gudkova says it’s also important to provide the homeless with homemade food and drinking water. “You can pack the food into boxes, each labeled that this food is fresh and it’s for the homeless,” Gudkova says. 

At the same time, it’s important to maintain distance during the COVID-19 pandemic. One can leave food and water near metro stations, bus stops or garbage containers, so that homeless people can find it. 

“It’s so obvious how easy it is to become homeless, especially now,” Gudkova says. “Homelessness is not a choice, but a circumstance. It’s important to keep helping them.”