Regional Center for Social Adaptation strives to give former inmates hope (01/11/04)

Regional Center for Social Adaptation strives to give former inmates hope

by Ilona Lewyckyj

LVIV - The hardships of her life were carved into the creases of her face. A homemade tattoo of an eagle, scrawled crookedly on her shoulder, spoke to the rawness of her life in prison. But the words she rasped between drags of a cigarette told a different story, a story of hope: "Before I came here I had nothing, no one. This is my family now, this is my new life."

Halya is one of 40 residents at the Shelter for Social Adaptation in the town of Brody in the Lviv oblast. Founded in 1991 by Ihor Hnat, executive director of the Regional Center for Social Adaptation (RCSA), the mission of the shelter is twofold: to provide housing, counseling, and a viable alternative to life on the streets to former prison inmates, particularly young people without family support; and the reduction of recidivism in Ukrainian prisons through job skills training and social programming.

In the past 12 years, RCSA has been part of the story of hope for Halya and over 700 other former convicts.

RCSA's shelter, situated on a former Soviet military base, is the only program in Ukraine that works with former prison inmates. The majority of the residents are people whose only method of survival during Ukraine's difficult economic transition was through petty crime. Many of them served disproportionately harsh terms in Ukrainian prisons, which are continually cited by international monitoring groups for human rights violations. Afterwards, they are released onto the streets, usually with no family support and nowhere to turn. Consequently, one in every three people convicted of a crime in Ukraine returns to prison for other crimes.

By contrast, RCSA has only a 5 percent rate of recidivism. Its model of success is simple: as long as residents agree to work during their stay and follow the three rules of no drinking, no drug use and no stealing, they are free to remain at the shelter until they are ready to re-enter society.

The residents can alternate working in the shelter's bakery, kitchen and gardens to produce their own food, as well as working on neighboring farms in exchange for goods and services. They can train to become certified welders or auto mechanics in RCSA's job-training programs. They live peacefully in a community of men and women in which everyone works, everyone shares what they have and everyone supports each other's struggles to change their lives.

This combination of hard work to satisfy daily needs, living with others in a setting of mutual trust and respect, and being trained with tangible, marketable job skills has given Halya and the other residents a sense of self-worth and an opportunity to become productive, contributing members of Ukrainian society. It is clear that RCSA is providing a real solution to one of Ukraine's most challenging and least recognized social problems.

Despite its positive results and the importance of its mission, there have been times when the shelter remained open only through the sheer force of will of its founder, Mr. Hnat. Although many residents are sent to RCSA by Ukrainian prison officials, it receives no government funding. During the harsh winters, it is not uncommon for all the residents to have to huddle into one room, melting snow for water because of the frozen, faulty pipes. A recent hailstorm destroyed the greenhouse that the residents built for winter food production. But to keep the shelter open, the staff paid, and the program running, Mr. Hnat has worked seven days a week without a vacation in 10 years, and in the spirit of a true Ukrainian, has done whatever it takes. That is why Halya and the others call him "tato," or father. That is why they strive to make up for the mistakes of their past and to build new lives in recognition of the opportunity and the support he has given them.

In addition to running the shelter in Brody, RCSA also maintains a mobile community center for street children in Lviv. A used bus equipped with medicine, food, a social worker and a doctor drives around the city and provides services to the nearly 500 children who live alone on the streets of Lviv. Hnat has also helped victims of sex trafficking, an enormous problem in Ukraine, return home from abroad.

All of these programs are run out of a small office in Lviv with two old computers and an incredibly dedicated and selfless staff. RCSA has received financial support in the past from the Embassy of Canada, Caritas Austria and The International Renaissance Foundation for its job training programs, but funding for its operational costs and the maintenance of the shelter and other programs is scarce.

Nonetheless, RCSA continues to do its work despite the financial challenges. Halya and the hundreds of others who have lived in the shelter are on their way to becoming productive members of Ukrainian society instead of going back to prison or living on the street.

As the last ashes fall away from her cigarette, a smile flashes upon her face. She says, "I am whole again, I am a new person. I have goals." In a country where one rarely finds hope, her statement is a testament to the work of RCSA, and to the future of Ukraine.

For more information about RCSA or to make a donation, readers may e-mail [email protected].

Ilona Lewyckyj is a master's student of human rights at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University. She has worked with RCSA and with Winrock International in Kyiv on the prevention of sex trafficking.

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