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Mother-Child Shelter Saves One Each Week from Abandonment and Institutionalization
Thanks to the efforts of a mother-and-child shelter in Tbilisi, one child every week is saved from abandonment and institutionalization, the fate of tens of thousands of Georgian children.The shelter, a partnership between World Vision, UNICEF and the Georgian government, provides employment services and emotional support for at-risk mothers who, as a result of poverty and desperation, too often feel compelled to leave their children in institutions.
“The clinic works because of the abilities and the commitment of the many social workers,” said World Vision project manager Maia Tsereteli. “It is the relationships that they develop with the mothers that allow them to offer the kind of support these women need.
The clinic opened in April of 2003, and in its first six months, helped an average of one mother per week decide to keep her child – and develop employment skills that would make that decision viable. In addition to training and emotional support, the shelter’s social workers also help find foster care and adoptive families for those children who cannot be reunited with their families.
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