Lilo to house new homeless shelter
By Tatia Megeneishvili
Monday, April 14
Long-term shelters for hundreds of homeless people will be built in Lilo, a small district of Tbilisi. According to the Georgian Ministry of Regional Development and Infrastructure, the shelter is counted on by over 240 homeless. The shelter will span 3,300 square meters, and the budget for the project is approximately 2 million GEL and will be allocated from the state budget.
The issue how to address people who are vulnerable was discussed during the regular session of the interdepartmental commission on April 12. During the meeting, the Municipal Development Fund presented the temporary housing project conceptual design.
Georgia’s homeless people will have the opportunity to access and stay at the shelters 24 hours a day. The facility will be equipped with kitchens, medical centers and bathrooms.
While discussing the project, Regional Development and Infrastructure Minister Davit Narmania said that there is a need to build homeless shelters in big cities and homeless people from around the country will have the opportunity to use this service.
Narmania said the government would take responsibility in taking care of the homeless people’s future. The shelter users will have the opportunity to be engaged in training courses to develop their professional skills, he said.
People from the temporary shelter on Moscow Avenue will move to the new shelter. The government launched plans to build homeless shelters in December last year. The shelter is made-up of tents and contains over 80 people at one time. Shelters were also opened in some other Georgian cities, including Gori and Kutaisi.
However, later in January, Minister of Labor, Health and Social Affairs Davit Sergeenko, together with Narmania, presented the minimum standards for the shelter to the representatives of civil society, which according to him, would be in line with modern standards and these shelters will not be seasonal.
