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In 2002 Grace
UMC founded the United Methodist Children's center Spring to
support children from at-risk families in Saint- Petersburg,
Northern Russia.
We work with children who live in Primorsky district, a very
poor and underdeveloped sector of Saint- Petersburg built 25
years ago. Primorsky has the sad record of having the
highest crime rate in the city. This is also the area that
has the largest child and youth population (over 75000). As
a result of the lack of social work and public school in the
area, there is a widespread problem of alcoholism, drug
addition and organized gangs. There are only 2 churches for
a half of the million population.
What are the goals of the ministry?
- To help free children from the bondage of poverty,
violence and spiritual vacuum;
- To provide specific spiritual and material help to
children and teenagers from big families, single-parent
families, families where parents or children are
handicapped, poor families, orphans, whose parents have died
or are in prison, families where parents drink or use drugs;
- To provide children and their families for social and
spiritual growth, as well as raise up workers for spreading
the ministry;
The specific program activities that help accomplish these
objectives.
- The center has a daily capacity of 40 children and
teenagers aged 4 to 16. In general the program includes over
150 children annually.
We serve them with hot meals and provide numerous free
activities such as: cooking, art, crafts, games, needlework,
music, dance, theatre, sports, tutoring in English, Russian,
math and physics, etc;
- Visiting children at home, in hospitals and schools,
representing and protecting children in court and at the
police;
- Organizing camps for children during the school holidays,
including summer camp for 3 weeks;
Center staff are volunteers, people of different ages and
professions who help children, mostly Grace UMC members.
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