 |
Since 1994, Emanuel Children's Home has been the main focus of CCM. Although there are many children still living in appalling conditions, our plans are to try and help the elderly as well.
When the new building has been completed and children have moved in, we are planning to begin converting the existing children's home into 7 self-contained apartments for the homeless elderly of Cluj Napoca. |
14% of Romanians are over 65 and 12% of Romanians are living on less than $2 per day. Although Romanians do receive a pension, they do not have free dental or medical care as we do here in the UK. Ileana, 85, lived in the old house in the grounds of Emanuel Children's Home. She used all her savings to have a double hip replacement and was on daily medication. Her pension only covered the cost of her medication and she had no other means of support, which is why she turned to CCM for help.
Over the years, others have come to CCM for help but we have had to turn them down as we did not have the facilities or the space to accomodate them. There is a desperate need for a place some of the homeless elderly can call home. During the winter months temperatures are on average between 2°C and minus 15°C. It is during the very coldest spells that extra patrols are sent out first thing in the morning to ensure those sleeping rough on the streets have not froze to death in the night. In one extremely cold spell, 14 people died in one night - some were actually in their own home.
To heighten the awareness of people to the appalling conditions facing some of Romania's elderly, and to help raise funds for the new project, we have the Sleep4Romania. We ask that you and some friends spend one night sleeping rough in the porch of your church, or other outside venue, where you will experience the cold and lack of comfort of homeless people the world over. You might not think it would be that bad but we ask you to do it in February when it is usually very cold and we ask you to do it as authentically as possible - but without taking any undue risks. In 2008, our Sleep4Romania raised over £2,500 which was a fantastic achievement by all. Reports suggest that not much sleeping happened due to church bells tolling, midnight revellers, rock solid beds and the dawn chorus, but that everyone had a wonderful time.
|
|
 |