By Elena Chernichkina
There's a unique place in New York City (Brooklyn, Brighton Beach, home to a large Russian-speaking community) called “The House of Labour”. It’s a homeless shelter welcoming Russian-speaking alcohol and drug addicts. They are offered a roof over their heads, food, and encouragement to permanently change their ways with God's help. According to official statistics, approximately 40% of residents succeed.
It all started 20 years ago, on December 2002, when a young woman walked into one of the local Orthodox churches. She approached the pulpit and suddenly addressed the paritioners: - "Did you Orthodox Christians know that while you're praying, your fellow believers are freezing in the streets of rich America? They need your help!”
She was quickly shushed, since only priests are allowed there (it is a special place for reading the Holy Scriptures, and giving sermons). Then she saw that her words were in vain, and left the church. She was walking down the snowy street, disappointed. Had people become so insensible that even in God's temple a plea for help is rejected?
Suddenly the deacon of that church, Vadim, caught up with her. - “Could you show me exactly where our fellow believers are dying of cold?” - he asked. And Rosa, that was the girl's name, went on to show him.
- “It was in December, with blizzard and snow. We're walking with Rosa through Seabreeze-park,” - recalls father Vadim. “Not a soul around. I thought, where is she taking me? Then she came to the bushes and shouted: Vasya, Kolya, come out! Two guys crawled out from behind the bushes. As it turned out later, they were formerly sailors. Their addiction to alcohol had cost them everything: family, home, job, friends. When I saw them, I realized: yes, Rosa is right, there is a problem, Russian-speaking people are dying on these stees, and there's not a soul to help them. At that moment I was struck with the idea to do something for these people”.
Later, Roza and Father Vadim managed to get Kolya and Vasya to a hostel for former sailors in Manhattan. Unfortunately, their story ended sadly: the two men couldn't go a day without drinking and were forced back on the streets.
There were quite a few homeless like this in Brighton. Rosa knew a lot of them and decided to rent an apartment for a couple of winter months so they wouldn't freeze to death. But this charitable gesture was doomed: the new residents set up a brothel there, drinking and partying for two months.
- “I used to go there”, recalls Father Vadim, - “and pray. They'd listen to me, but as soon as I left, they'd go back to doing the same thing. I didn't understand how to work with them, how to get through to them”.
With Rosa, he started going to Brighton Beach and feed the homeless on Tuesdays. For 20 years since, with few exceptions, they continued. On Fridays and Sundays, his helpers take over.
But back to our story. Two years later, in 2004, Fr. Vadim was invited over by the rector of Washington's St. John the Baptist church, Father Victor and his wife. The paritioners there had raised $3,500 dollars to help the homeless. “With this money, we rented a small apartment in Brooklyn and converted it into a Shelter in the name of Saint John of Kronstadt”. (St John created the first “House of Labor” type of homeless shelter in St Petersburg, Russia in 19th century), - says Father Vadim. - “So in this apartment, in one of the two bedrooms we created a small chapel where we could pray.”
In 2005, with the blessing of the Bishop of Manhattan, Father Vadim became a priest.
“In 2008, the Lord gave us the opportunity to buy two houses. We made a church in one, and in the other - a House of Labor after St John’s example. We already knew how to help addicts battle addiction, and with God's help, we did. People found health and restarted their lives with a clean slate”.
This continued until 2013. Then, a disaster struck and they lost both the church and the House of Good Works. New premises had to be found and the rent payments were stabilised only in 2017. It's still in Brooklyn. The charity work carries on. The new location is designed for 12 people, 8-10 stay there most of the time. Unfortunately, the lease is about to expire, and there's no money for renewal. Father Vadim has much hope that people will care enough to help.
We ask Fr. Vadim, - why do you need to treat such people? The addicts themselves often reject your help, why insist?
- “I'll tell you this”, he said: “the human soul is an icon of the Creator. We're walking down the street and see an icon that was spat on. An icon! It should be picked up, washed and brought to the church. Because the human soul is made in the likeness of God”.
What follows are a few stories of those who are sheltered here.
Anatoly is 60 years old. He came to the U.S. in 2009 from Krivoy Rog, Ukraine. - “I started having problems with alcohol about two years after moving here." he says. - “I started longing for my family, who stayed back in Kryvbas. Plus, I was unsettled, and constantly had to rent a "corner" instead of a real place to live. There's a lot of places like that in Brighton Beach. My drinking was, of course, influenced by the group of people I was hanging out with”.
Anatoly began to go on bouts of hard drunking lasting 5 to 10 days. Then he would go back to “regular drinking”. After a few months he would have another bout. He couldn't keep up at work and got fired without any discussion. No job, no money. No money, no way to pay the rent. This happened in 2012.
- “At the time, there was a church in Brooklyn on Brighton 1 where Father Vadim served," Anatoly recalls. - “Some people took pity on me and advised to go there. They said there is a local shelter where alcohol and drug addicts are helped”.
At the House of Good Works Anatoly was met with understanding, and given hope to recover through prayer and a specially designed rehabilitation program. Convinced by the visible recovery of other residents, he stayed. Indeed, the program was beginning to bear fruit. The addiction seemed to go away, but....
- “In 2017, I decided to return to my family,” - continues Anatoly. - “And I did. Lived with my wife and children for 5 years. But the addiction didn't go anywhere. I fell back into drinking, lost my family and decided to come back to America In January 2022. I thought I'd get a fresh start in the US, quit drinking, start earning money. But the dream didn't come true”. Literally upon arrival he went on a drinking binge and found himself on the street again.
- “An acquaintance told me that Father Vadim is still treating alcoholics although the House of Labor is now at a different Brooklyn location. So I went there. The result - I haven’t touched alcohol in nine months. I can assure you, there's no other shelter like this in Brooklyn or the United States. There are rehab centers that medicate you, but here, people quit drinking on their own free will. And you won’t find another person like Father Vadim, who saves people from alcohol and drugs, and gives back the opportunity to live a full life. He has created a microclimate where, thanks to the faith in God. Those who were abandoned by everyone, including themselves, can find their way back to life here.***
Igor is 44 years old. He came to America in 1997 at the age of 18 with his father, while his mother stayed in Kharkov being averse to moving abroad. For 25 years years since he emigrated, he never visited Ukraine and never saw his mother again. She died alone and he didn't come to her funeral.
At first Igor lived in San Diego, and later moved to Boston. - “I started drinking at the age of 14”, - he recalls. - “And drinking heavily - at the age of 22. I fought the addiction as much as I could. A few times I found the strength to stop drinking, but, unfortunately, not for long. Eventually I got married. Lived with my wife for 5 years, but she couldn’t take it much longer. I even had a business at the time, installing air conditioners and aquariums in offices. When we got divorced, I worked as a paramedic for 9 years (I learned this profession in America)”.
Igor recalls that he usually came out of drinking bouts by himself. Being a medical worker, he knew how to do it with minimal loss of health. - “However, later I started consuming 1.5 liters of vodka a day - and there came a moment when for the first time I felt helpless. I didn't have much of a choice - either die or go to a hospital and ask for help. I chose the second option”.
By then, Igor was already unemployed and homeless. - “I was referred to detox, where I met addicted guys like me who persuaded me to try a rehab center. I spent 21 days there. It was pretty good: they fed me a lot, we had a gym, soccer and basketball courts, even smoking was allowed. Yes, you had to sit in AA classes all day, but being out of my drinking environment was a huge help in my struggle with addiction. How did I end up with to Father Vadim? I was referred from the rehab in August 2022”.
Igor says the House of Good Works is run on donations. - “In America institutions like this are run on state funding, while the House of Good Works is entirely private, and dependant on donations from private individuals. This is a unique place. They really save people here, including those who have lost everything.
Who's to help when you don't have any money? You come here, get treated for addiction, have a roof over your head, and they keep you well fed. But the best thing is, you are free. When you’re ready to live without alcohol or drugs, you leave. Had you seen me and the other residents before, you wouldn't have recognized us. After 4 months and 16 days I haven't had a drink, not a drop, and don't have the urge. By the way, there's no way you can't drink alcohol here. If Father Vadim finds out, he'll ask you to leave immediately. He believes every person can kick this habit if they really want to, and helps people get a fresh start, a chance for a healthy life. I don't think I’ll go back to binge drinking when I leave. ***
Vladimir is 67 years old, retired. Like Igor, he came to the United States in 1997 on a visitor's visa from Semipalatinsk, Kazakhstan. When his visa expired, he stayed in New York.
“I became an illegal immigrant. I have a wife and two sons at home,” - he says. - “I came to the U.S. to to earn money. Back in the hard 90s, when the Soviet Union collapsed, and the former republics were just trying to fix their economies, andt it was very hard on the people. I went abroad to feed my family.” Of course, Vladimir had no idea he'd stay in the US for 25 years. He wanted to go back as soon as possible. But it didn't work out. To be fair, all these years he was sending money to his family. His wife used it to raise the boys, put them through prestigious schools, and when they started their own families, he helped them build houses, start their own businesses.
“- It was hard for me in a foreign country without my family," he shares. - “I started drinking, lost my job, couldn't pay the rent. They wanted to evict me, but I promised to find work soon and pay off my debt. In Brooklyn, right next to my house there was a church where father Vadim had his shelter. I was practically forced to do there, you might say. Stayed for a few months, and when I felt ready to live without vodka, I moved to Florida for a construction job. When the job was over, with some money on my hands, I fell into drinking again.
So I moved back to New York, and checked into the House of Good Works. I live here for a couple of years now. I’m something of a superintendent, keeping an eye on the residents. I don't drink at all”. Vladimir also does volunter work: three times a week the residents make soup, and distribute it to the homeless on Brighton Beach with father Vadim, regardless of weather.
- I'm about to turn seventy, and my health is seriously failing me," he sighs. - “I dream of returning home to Kazakhstan, to my children and grandchildren. My wife, unfortunately, has passed away. But my sons are waiting for me. I want to live my God-given lifetime in my homeland, with my family.” ***
Zurab came to America from Georgia six years ago. He's just over 50 and also stays at the House of Good Works. Like any Georgian, he tasted wine since he was a kid, he says. When he came to the United States on a work visa, he quickly became homesick and started drinking vodka.
One day, intoxicated, he drank hydrochloric acid out of a bottle. - “I was in such a pain that I thought I wouldn't survive," says Zurab. - “The acid ate my stomach... but not completely. I probably have my drinking to thank for surving, as my stomach got used to alcohol over time. My stomach held up, but the doctor said that after such a burn cancer often follows”.
The man left the hospital after a month and a half, and was treated at home for another six months. Good people helped him, as he couldn't do anything on his own - neither cook, nor go to the store, or lift a grocery bag... Thank God, his health didn’t falter and the worst fears were unconfirmed.
Such an incident should have discouraged Zurab from drinking forever, but just the opposite happened. Once again, the alcohol took over his life even worse than than before. He couldn't get a job, and eventually lost the roof over his head.
Finally, Zurab ended up in a rehab albeit only for three days, didn't like it and left. The doctor insisted he had a good chance to kick the habit. He just didn't want to. But it was in the rehab that Zurab learned about a church in Brooklyn with a shelter for people like him. “So I went there and stayed since October 2022," he says. - “Haven't had a drop of alcohol all that time. I will say this: whether a person will drink depends on the environment. No one drinks in the House of Good Works. Religion is a big factor in rehabilitation here. Father Vadim comes to us all the time, reads prayers. You can talk to him about anything, he's your spiritual counselor, psychologist, and doctor. You have a choice: either you die in a ditch, or live. We chose life”.
In these four stories, the main characters were left alone and helpless. If they hadn't come to the House of Good Works, their fate would have been sealed. But there's another story, of a woman who cares about these people. Olga emigrated to the US in 1997 and almost immediately started volunteering. - “I remember when I moved to America, I got a job in a second hand store," she recalls. - “And started sending things that were handed out free, to my hometown of Belgorod-Dnestrovsky in the Odessa region”.
One day, she published an ad in the newspaper asking to help the children from the Belgorod-Dnestrovsky Orphanage, and father Vadim responded. That's how they met and began to collaborate. Olga later worked for 12 years in the Coast Guard as an accountant, and as a nurse in a mental hospital.
- “Only three years ago I could fully commit myself to charity works with fr. Vadim”, she says. I help the guys from the House of Good Works with registration and paperwork, getting driver's licenses, get in touch with their families, etc. I donate monthly for the soup distributed to the homeless. Once a week, on Tuesdays, we go out with fr. Vadim and other volunteers to distribute the food to the homeless”.
Olga has two sons, both are involved in her charity work. - “It's hard to work with addicts, sometimes you lose heart seeing people fall back into drinking despite all the help, and hit the bottom again and again. But there are people who manage to get up, start working and earning, start families. When you look at them, there is a hope that people who work so hard to help addicts, do it for a reason”.
Elena Chernichkina
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