Warming the Souls
The Chamah Humanitarian Center
In Moscow, Russia
Moscow - the beautiful and shining capital of Russia, rich in theaters, museums and historical sights, amazing wide avenues, beautiful and massive buildings. But there is a different Moscow as well - the city of poor and wretched, the city where after the break up of the Soviet Union, people hardly survive and have almost no support.
However, there is Chamah! Chamah helps the less fortunate to live through the crisis.
Because of the philanthropic support of Mr. Robert Arnow-Weiler- Arnow Family Foundation, Mr. Milton Gralla, JDC, Russian Jewish Congress, Fred Shvetz and the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation and other benevolent sponsors, Chamah was able to establish a Humanitarian Center to cater to needy senior citizens. It has been built on beautifully landscaped grounds containing park benches and scenic pathways.
As Mr. Arnow remarked “I wanted the elderly who cannot afford to go to the country, to enjoy the beautiful grounds and fresh air while spending time in the gazebos and beautiful park benches.”
The Chamah Humanitarian Center offers a broad scope of welfare, medical and social services to tens of thousands of people, many of who are senior citizens who risked their lives during the Second World War. Their meager monthly pensions are insufficient to provide them with their most basic necessities. As a result, they live below the poverty level and go from day to day uncertain of their survival.
Now, thanks to the dozens of programs that Chamah operates at the Center, these unfortunate people many of whom were once leading academics in the arts and sciences, are given new hope and security.
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Since their professional abilities are no longer needed, they suffer from a serious lack of purpose in life. The programs at the Center givethese gifted and productive members of society a sense of dignity, achievement, and self-respect that they so richly deserve, as they pass on their knowledge to the younger generation.
These programs are made possible through the generosity of charitable organizations and individual benefactors throughout the world.
Soup Kitchen
One of the major projects of the Center is the Soup Kitchen, where each year over 500,000 hot nutritious well-balanced meals are provided for the elderly and needy, most of whom are low-income pensioners, disabled veterans and people disabled since childhood. Meals are served in a clean and beautifully designed dining hall. In addition hot meals are delivered to the homes of the elderly. Several hundred seniors suffering from diabetes receive special treatment with meals to cater to their restricted diet.
Medical Services
Medical services play a vital role in the life of a senior citizen. Several rooms at the Center are set aside to provide the necessary health care for these people. They can visit family doctors as well as specialists such as opthalmologists, gastroenterologists, therapists, etc. Home visits are also available for those unable to come to the Center themselves. In addition, Chamah has arranged supplementary health services in cooperation with the local clinics for the convenience of the elderly. Moreover, medical equipment is provided for those in need of it.
Although government subsidies are available for a variety of indispensable medical supplies, not all of them are covered. Those not included in the list of subsidized products must then be purchased at their full price. This proves a most difficult task for seniors whose monthly government stipends are barely enough to provide for their basic necessities. To ease this additional financial burden, through the Drugstore Program, hundreds of people receive medications free of charge, individually dispensed according to the doctor's prescription.
Beauty Parlor
Chamah believes that the seniors who come to our Center should leave with a restored feeling of self-respect and renewal -- emotionally, physically and spiritually. With this in mind, the Center also offers beautician services - hairdressing, manicures, etc. - to give the elderly proper grooming that will improve their appearance as well as their self-image.
Golden Age Club
Chamah operates a variety of social and cultural programs at the Humanitarian Center, which greatly enhance the life of the senior citizens. In addition to hot meals, Chamah provides activities such as arts and crafts, chess, trips to the theater and museums, etc. The Center also administers classes in Judaism, especially in the weeks prior to the Jewish holidays, which instill in the participants a feeling of great interest for their Jewish heritage. A library and coffeehouse are available on the premises.
Among the many activities at the Center is our caring and humane work for the blind. Chamah volunteers make regular visits to the homes of the blind, provide them with reading material in Braille and deliver hot nutritious meals directly to their homes. Seniors with good writing skills are encouraged to write interesting articles that Chamah publishes and distributes in its regular periodicals. Such community involvement has tremendous influence in helping our elderly find greater meaning in their lives.
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Thanks to the generosity of Mr. and Mrs. Robert and Joan Arnow and the Weiler-Arnow Family.
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