ChildRescue Center

Ukraine has been one of my
favorite months due mainly to the ministry we are working with. For the first time this year I’ve
gotten to work with teenagers. We
spend our afternoons and evenings at ChildRescue Center. This is a rehabilitation center for street
children. In Ukraine, there are
about 200,000 homeless children and children without parental care, spending
most of their time on the streets.  About 20% of all Ukrainian street
children live or move to Kiev, the nation’s capital.   There is NO
national or regional qualitative welfare system to protect children-in-crisis. 75%
of children leaving Ukrainian orphanages end up in a lifestyle of prostitution,
drugs, or commit suicide within two years of leaving the institution. Only 10% of parents whose children
leave home actually look for the children who have run away. There are
approximately 104,000 registered orphans in Ukraine. 40% of Ukrainian children drink alcohol on a regular
basis. 

One the best things about
the center is that their main goal is to remove children from the streets, and
with God’s love and care, to rehabilitate and reintegrate them back into
biological or professionally trained (foster) families and help older children
lead independent, socially acceptable lives.  They don’t just want to put
a band-aid on the problem but to actually come p with a solution. They also focus on the children
individually. They try to meet the
needs of the specific child instead of trying to fit the child into their
program or system. ChildRescue has
five different centers. The Day
Center assists street children in urgent need of food, clothing, medical
attention, shower & social/moral support.   The Medical Centerwhich provides not only medical care, but
psychological and legal support as well. The center we have been working at is
the Rehabilitation Center. The
main goal of this Center is to prepare street children to live again with
biological or professionally trained (foster) families and prepare older
children for independent living.  Today, the Rehab Center houses 24 street
children, aged 3 to18 years old, most of whom have been transferred from the
Day Center. The other two centers
are the Center of Family Care and the Independent Living Center for
Rehabilitated Street Children.