Euroasian Jewish News

Despite Corona: FJC’s Orphanages and Children’s homes across Ukraine and Russia stay open

One big family: Hundreds of Jewish children who have no other place to call home continue to reside and receive love and affection in the FJC’s network of Children’s homes and Orphanages in Ukraine and Russia.

The staff at the Children’s homes have taken all the required health precautions to prevent both the children and the staff from getting infected by the coronavirus. They are also implementing special programs to keep the children in a positive and cheerful mood. Most of the children in FJC’s four children’s homes in Odessa, Zhytomyr, Denipro and Moscow suffer from post-trauma after arriving at the homes from broken, abusive and neglectful families or after losing one or more of their parents.

The children’s entire life circulates around the homes, and it is the only place on earth they feel safe and protected. When the instructions to close down all the educational institutions were put into force, the children joined the rest of their peers at FJC’s ‘Or Avner’ network of Jewish educational institutions in online learning.

One of the many preventive actions taken was to forbid the children to leave the compound and, on the other hand, to move all essential staff into flats in the compound in order to temporarily disconnect the children and staff from the outside world. Non-essential staff have been asked to stay in touch with the children via phone and email rather than to come to the institutions. These include the psychologists and therapy professionals who support the children’s development until they mature.

FJC.ru