Giorgi and his younger sister Mariam have been living in the Caritas Georgia children’s house for more than 12 years. The house hosts children, ages 6 – 18, whose parents are unable to care for them. Our goal is to provide them with as much of an experience of family as possible. We know that we can never replace a mother and a father, but we do our best to provide warmth, tenderness, attention and love so that they know they are not alone.

Challenge

Giorgi and Mariam lost their parents in their early age. They are accustomed to challenges, but today they face a new hurdle. Giorgi is already an adult. He left the children’s house a year ago, and he is involved in another service of Caritas Georgia, which provides youth leaving Caritas not having a housing with living space for maximum 3 years. Mariam has just turned 18 and will be obliged to leave the children’s house too. She also has nowhere else to go.

They have such incredible determination and will. Last year Giorgi enrolled in the Faculty of Tourism in part to avoid living on the streets.  His determination and will are formidable. Today Giorgi works at Caritas Georgia and his sister is studying to be a mathematician. For his limited salary, Giorgi will not be able to rent a house. Even if sister will also start working their both salaries will hardly cover the house rent, leaving them with very little means for living.

The rent of a house with two bedrooms costs from 250-500$. In Georgia, the average salary is 347$ and the lowest was 100$ in 2020 (source: https://tradingeconomics.com/georgia/wages). Giorgi and Mariam cannot even count on average salary because they are just starting working. In addition, renting a house puts them in a high risk of appearing in the street in case they lose their jobs. In Georgia, the employment market is very unstable, and unemployment rate is high. (link: https://www.statista.com/statistics/812017/youth-unemployment-rate-in-georgia/)

A Hope

Despite the fact that the siblings cannot imagine what the future will bring them, they have a hope. Some of that hope comes from the fact that in the winter of 2009, when they opened the doors of the Caritas Children’s House, they found belonging.

Mariam says that home is where her brother is. What she most wants is to find a way to have a life with him, a life where she can create the same warmth she discovered at Caritas.

Solution

All the world over, many people are aided in their early adulthood by their parents, whether that is through help with a down payment on a home or support for education where possible. If we were able to provide this for them, it could make all the difference.

A humble home in a safe neighborhood would cost them 45000$ and would allow them to live independently and sustainably. If everybody reading this gives at least 20$, they would have a place to call home.