After an interruption of seventy years, the history of independent social service and humanitarian relief organizations in Russia has resumed, and Moscow Charity House is one example of the society's ability to respond in a voluntary, yet organized and effective manner, to widespread human needs.

MCH's initial work focused on collecting and delivering food packages to Muscovites during the "crisis" years 1990-91. Today it describes its mission as improving "the quality of life of people with special needs: sick, elderly, disabled, helping to preserve their dignity." As its work has expanded, MCH now divides it into eight program areas. These include:

• "Information and Help." To help coordinate the assignment of various social services to different organizations and individuals in Moscow, and to be a referral point for individuals to the appropriate agency or source of assistance.
  
• "Kindness Without Limits." To provide humanitarian and financial aid to the poor, elderly, disabled, single parents and families with many children.
  
• "Accessible Transportation." To create a system of transport from "door to door" for the handicapped and elderly, who cannot use public transportation.
  
• "Free Meals for the Elderly." For the old and poor, free meals in canteens or, if they cannot leave their apartments, "meals on wheels."
  
• "Centers for the Elderly." Development of community centers to serve the elderly.

MCH claims to have been able to provide "real help to tens of thousands of people" since becoming registered as an independent charity fund in September 1991. It has a paid staff of 15 and about 2,000 volunteers. It also has 40 community agencies throughout the greater Moscow area.

Moscow Charity House
Galina Bodrenkova, President
Andrei Verbitsky, Vice-President
8/7 Bolshoy Komsomolsky Pereulok, room 32
103982 Moscow
Tel: 206-8334/35/38
Fax: 241-6368

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The URL for this page is: http://solar.rtd.utk.edu/~ccsi/csew/95-10/charhous.htm
Last updated: March 26 1996

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