The winner of the twelfth All-Russian competition for homeless assistance named after Nadezhda Monetova has been announced, and Sergey Serman, head of the Unity Center for Social Adaptation from Chelyabinsk, has become the winner.
The award was presented by Archpriest Mikhail Potokin, Chairman of the Synodal Department for Church Charity and Social Service, at the plenary session of the XII Ecclesiastical Congress on Social Service. In Chelyabinsk, Sergey organized a social shelter, built a farm, and created an adaptation apartment for the homeless. More than 700 people received assistance in these projects, about half of them returned to society: they found a job, reconciled with relatives or started families.
In 2017, Sergey founded his first project, the Social Shelter. Here, homeless people are helped to restore documents, find work, solve their problems, provide housing and medical support. There are 23 people living in the shelter now. In 2022, Sergey opened the Sober Farm, a project that allows homeless people to return to normal life through agricultural labor. Currently, the farm has 70 sheep, 17 cows, more than 200 birds, a vegetable garden, and its own pasture. In 2024, the "Adaptation Apartment" was opened. After rehabilitation on the farm, graduates are helped to find a job in the city and are taught to live independently.
"I help the homeless because they are primarily human beings. And they are often not to blame for their situation. That's what one priest said about it.: "It's like restoring an icon." It's an incredible feeling to see a person change and get better. For example, my deputy Konstantin. He came to us in just a T—shirt and shorts, which was the only thing he had. We restored his documents and helped him cope with alcohol addiction. Now he is a successful, hardworking man whom I sincerely admire," says Sergey Serman.
The purpose of the competition is to identify the best social workers who help the homeless, as well as to draw public attention to the problems of people who find themselves on the street for one reason or another. The winner received a prize of 100,000 rubles, a certificate of honor and a badge.
"When we evaluate projects, we look at what approach the candidate uses. And first of all, whether the work is structured comprehensively. Sergey has a multi—stage assistance in the project - the stages of assistance from initial admission to rehabilitation, socialization, work, and employment. Sergey also has effective cooperation with the government and charitable organizations that help the homeless," said Andrey Yakunin, head of the Department of assistance to the homeless at the Synodal Department of Charity.
The award was established in 2013 by the Synodal Department of Charity in memory of Nadezhda Monetova, a young woman who, after living on the streets, was able to return to society and begin helping homeless people. Nadezhda Monetova was an employee of the Orthodox movement Kursky Railway Station. Homeless people, children." She tragically died on the night of March 20, 2012.
In 2013, Vera Kostyleva, who organized a homeless shelter in Arkhangelsk, became the first winner of the Nadezhda Monetova Award. In 2014, the competition was won by Alexander Pushkarev, the head of the Resurrection organization from Kostroma. In 2015, Konstantin Vetrenko won, he created the Mercy Bus, a mobile homeless assistance service in Khabarovsk, a high-threshold shelter, a low-threshold flophouse and the homelessness prevention project The Way Home. In 2016, the competition was won by Hieromonk Antonin (Napolskikh), the organizer of several projects to help the homeless in Udmurtia. In 2017, Archpriest Alexy Botvinkov, rector of St. Mitrofan's Church in the village of Khrenovoye, Voronezh Region, and head of a shelter for the homeless and people with disabilities, designed for 100 people, received the award. In 2018, Archpriest Roman Khabibullin, rector of the Church of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Ufa, creator of a shelter for homeless people, and coordinator of parish assistance to the homeless, became the winner of the award. In 2019, Andrey Yakunin, a narcologist and founder of the Mercy homeless assistance center in Tyumen, was awarded the prize. In 2021, Ilya Kuskov, director of the public-church shelter for homeless people "Warm Welcome" in Khimki, received the award. He has been helping the homeless since 1998. In 2022, Vitaly Kurdeko, the creator of the church medical and social project "Mercy Bus" in St. Petersburg, received the award. In 2023, Hieromonk Siluan (Tsapin), head of the Blagoveshchenie Social Assistance Center of the Kazan Diocese, was awarded the prize. In 2024, Alexander Apanasenko, the founder of two centers for the dependent and homeless in Murmansk, received the award.
In Russia, with the participation of the Church, more than 100 shelters for the homeless have been opened, and 23 mercy buses, mobile aid stations for the homeless, are operating.